Finding Myself
by dayaan12
Summary: Separated from her parents at a young age due to the Fire Nation Invasion, Yun escaped to Kiyoshi Island. Join Yun as she travels with the Avatar in search of her parents. See how she gains new skills, makes new friends, and eventually finds out what she is capable of. *this will be the first part of a series and will include all three of the ATLA books* *Sequel now up*
1. Book 1 Chapter 1: On Kiyoshi Island

Yun watched as the water tribe girl huffed and grumbled as she walked uphill. Her tan skin and blue eyes mirror Yun, and reminded her of Yun's mother. Yun wanted to approach her, but she wasn't sure if she would frustrate the water tribe girl further or not. However, she looked like she needed help.

"Excuse me?" Yun tapped the water tribe girl on the shoulder, startling her out of her bad mood, but also startled many of the supplies out of her basket, and they all began rolling down hill. Both girls rushed to pick up the rolling produce, eventually ending up at the bottom of the hill.

"I'm so sorry," Yun said, hands clenching and unclenching nervously at her sides. "You looked like you needed help, but I just ended up making more trouble for you."

The girl waved her hands as if shooing away Yun's apology.

"If you would like to walk with me back up the hill to put away some of this stuff, that would be great."

"Of course," Yun said, walking beside the girl, cradling some vegetables in her arms.

"What is your name," Yun asked.

"Katara," the girl said brightly. "And yours?"  
"Yun."

The rest of the trip uphill was spent in silence. Yun really wasn't good with small talk.

When they reached their destination, Katara began packing food into different bags, asking Yun to hand over different food items or tools.

Taking a deep breath, Yun steeled herself and asked, "Are you from the Northern Water Tribe?"  
"No, I am from the Southern Water Tribe. Why?"

Yun deflated. It seems it wasn't meant to be.

"Sorry. It really isn't anything. Sorry for bothering you. Is there anything else you need help with?"

Katara looked confused and a little wary.

"No, I think this is it. Did you need anything from me?"  
"N-no, just wanted to help out. Thanks, I will just go now. Bye. Nice to meet you."  
Yun rushed out the door and down the hill and began to walk out towards the town square. Stopping under the giant statue of Kiyoshi, she put her head in her hands and sighed. What an absolute mess. She was back to square one. She needed a way to get to the Northern Water tribe.

The problem was that there were no direct boat rides from Kiyoshi Island to the North Pole, and besides, Yun didn't have any money in the first place. At least, if Katara was from the North Pole, she could have known if Yun's parents were there. They promised they would be.

Yun noticed the sun had begun to set and rushed off to do her chores. There was no point in making her aunt any more mad at her than usual. Quickly sweeping the floors of the house, washing the dishes, and feeding her aunt's chickens, Yun snuck into her attic room before her aunt got back from a night of drinking. There were many celebrations going on in Kiyoshi since the Avatar came here.

Before getting on her bed, Yun opened her window, humming contentedly as a breeze cooled her body. Maybe the stray cat-owl would come in during the night. Yun laid on her bed looking at the stars through her attic window. Tomorrow, she promised herself she would ask Katara if she knew anything about the North Pole. Or water bending. Be brave Yun, she told herself. And with that thought, Yun drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Yun groaned as she felt the sunlight disturb the darkness of her slumber. She shuffled out of bed, getting ready for the day. Stepping around the drunken mess her aunt had made after coming home last night, she went to take a bath. Afterwards, she cleaned up the mess that her aunt had made throughout the house, made breakfast, and prepared the feed before the chickens woke up. When they did, she quickly tossed their feed at them, causing a little bit of squawking and discontent, before she grabbed money from the jar and rushed down to the market. She viciously haggled for lower prices, buying everything she needed and pocketing the extra money. She wouldn't be returning that to the jar. Why should she, if her aunt was just going to waste it on more alcohol. Honestly that lady was going to die of alcohol poisoning someday, no matter what the town herbalist said about his miracle herbs. What would happen to her if her aunt died? Yun always felt selfish when she thought like that, but if her aunt didn't care about her, then Yun had no obligation to care about her aunt. Yun was pretty sure that her aunt didn't have one nice thing to say to her since she arrived on Kiyoshi Island.

As she walked back into her aunt's place, she was greeted with the sound of heavy snoring. Her aunt probably wouldn't wake up until late afternoon, so she had time to cook peacefully and without distractions or scolding from her dear aunt. Satisfied with what she had made, she put a bowl on the table for her aunt for when she woke up, had a little herself, and packed the rest in small containers.

Grabbing the containers, she then ran to the dojo where the Kiyoshi warriors trained. She could never move like them, lacking the grace and precision they had been training nearly from birth. However, she could train against them, having had dagger practice in the past. Mostly, she just enjoyed seeing them train, the way their uniform moved and the way their fans opened and closed so sharply. As payment for occupying a space in their dojo but not doing anything, she would bring food for them. Of course they would say they didn't need it, but Yun liked making food for her friends. She had been doing it for a while. She had come to the island when she was eight, and the Kiyoshi warriors had been her friends since then.

As she entered the dojo, sweat on her brow from the afternoon sun, she noticed something different. Some of the warriors noticed her and greeted her with grins, making grabby hands for the bundled up food. They pulled Yun over to where they were seated and the group watched Suki floor what looked like . . .

"Is that a guy in your uniform or . . . ?" Yun didn't really know how to finish that question.

"Yes it is," one of the warriors gleefully said, mouth full of food.

Yun chatted quietly with the warriors, while watching Suki in her element. Watching that guy get beat over and over again was a little sad, but guessing from what the warriors said happened, he kind of deserved it. She wanted to say hi to Suki, but she was obviously busy. Watching a few more minutes, Yun decided to say goodbye to the warriors and walk out into the square where she bumped straight into Katara.

"Nice to see you again," Katara said warmly.

"Hi Katara," Yun said, looking at the ground. She made a fool of herself last time, leaving so quickly.

"It's a hot day, isn't it," Katara questioned, wiping sweat from her forehead.

Yun desperately tried to think of a way to keep the conversation going. She couldn't talk about the weather, because Katara already talked about the weather.

"Th-there is a stream nearby. We could go there. The temperature is considerably cooler than here in the square."

"I was actually going to head back soon, but if it's on the way, I would love to go with you," Katara said, smiling at Yun.

"It is! It not that far away from where you stay, actually."

The girls begin walking to the stream, trying to walk in the shade provided by the buildings. The silence between them was comfortable now, not like yesterday. Yun began to relax, Katara's presence calming her.

When the reached the stream, Yun was quick to pull of her shoes and pull up her pants in order to dip her feet in the water; Katara followed suite. Both of them sighed in unison before looking at each other and laughing.

"So Yun, how did you find this area. It isn't exactly in plain view, and it doesn't seem very busy?"

"Well, I walk around by myself a lot. N-n-not because I don't have friends, or well I didn't really have friends but now I have friends I think, well maybe they consider me a friend I really don't want to assume-"

Yun startled when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Let's take a deep breath."

Yun hadn't really realized she had stopped breathing until her lungs expanded and she gasped for air. Katara waited while Yun had her breath back and groaned.

"I promise I am not usually this lame. I just have a hard time with people I don't know that well," Yun said, head in her hands.

Katara chuckled.

"Why don't we fix that. I'll tell you a little about myself. I'm Katara of the Southern Water Tribe. I have a brother, Sokka, and I'm traveling with the Avatar. I am a waterbender, or at least I'm going to learn how to waterbend, and yeah. Now your turn."

"Hi, I'm Yun of the Southern Islands. I don't have any siblings, and I am a waterbender as well, or as much of a waterbender as I can be with no teacher. And yeah."

"Southern Islands?"  
"Yeah," Yun said. "I came here when my village was attacked by the Fire Nation. I live with my aunt now."  
"The Fire Nation took my mother from me when I was a little girl. And my dad went to fight in the war," Katara offered, touching her necklace. Yun put her hand on Katara's shoulder.

"I was separated from my parents when the Fire Nation attacked," Yun said, her voice low with grief, still raw even after six years. "They promised me they would meet me in the Northern Water Tribe, though. I was able to get away on an escape boat, and I was taken to Kiyoshi Island. I was eight."

"That's why you asked about the Northern Water Tribe!"

Yun looked at Katara and nodded.

"When I first got here, I asked my aunt every day to help me get to the North Pole, but she refused. I still ask sometimes, but she uses all of her money on . . . other things, and I really don't have enough to get to the North Pole."

Katara looked pensive and looked like she was about to speak, when Yun noticed the sun.

"It looks like it's getting cooler. You did say that you wanted to go back to your place right?"

They both headed back to Katara's place, enjoying the slightly cooled down weather. When they arrived, Yun was prepared to head back to her aunt's house, but Katara insisted she stay a while. Katara started mending what looked like a pair of pants when she spoke.

"Yun, I would have to talk about it with Aang and Sokka, but I was thinking maybe you could come to the North Pole with us. I'm sure Appa could carry one more person."

Yun could scarcely believe what she heard.

"Why would you do that? For me? For a stranger?"

"I know how it is to lose a parent and want him back so badly. To reunite with him. I guess I just want to help you get that."

Yun flung herself at Katara, hugging her with all her strength.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"I still have to talk to Sokka and Aang. Mostly Aang, because it is his bison, but I'm sure he will say yes."

Yun was about to say something when the Avatar himself walked into the room. He looked a little . . . sulky.

"I'm going with the girls to the beach, and I'm going to ride the Unagi."

"Go ahead," Katara said, her voice suddenly colder and . . . also sulky.

"It's pretty dangerous."

"I'm sure it is."  
"I'm still going to do it."

"That's fine with me."  
"Fine!"

"Good!"

"Good!"

The Avatar then stormed out of the building, the front door closing with a resounding bang. Katara continued sewing, and Yun sat there shocked. That wasn't how she expected the Avatar would be. She expected him to be more refined, mature, and taller. Definitely taller.

"Is he going to be okay," Yun asked. "The Unagi shouldn't be ridden. He is a force to be reckoned with."

"He has his fangirls to help him out."

"Fan girls? Do you mean the Kiyoshi warriors? Even they cannot battle against the Unagi."

"No, that wasn't what I meant. You know those girls who always hang around Aang," Katara asked.

Yun shook her head. She honestly couldn't remember seeing the Avatar around town. Katara looked incredulous.

"You didn't hear the piercing shrieks everywhere and everytime Aang did something so little as breath?"

Yun shook her head again. She didn't hear any piercing shrieks.

Katara sewed for a few more minutes, but then looked at Yun.

"Maybe I should check on him. Could you lead me to the beach?"

Katara and Yun began running towards the beach. They arrived in time to see the Avatar swimming towards the shore with a grin, oblivious to the dark shadow behind him.

"Aang, look out," Katara cried out.

The Avatar looked confused before he gets lifted up by the Unagi himself.

Yun froze, unsure of what to do. No one she knew has faced off against the Unagi. However, through her fear, she was able to see Katara rescue the Avatar, swimming with his unconscious body to shore.

Then she saw the Fire Nation boats. Yun paled as she saw rows of soldiers and rhinos set foot on the island. She felt Katara pulling her towards some rocks which she, Katara, and the Avatar hid behind. While Katara awakened the unconscious Avatar, Yun saw the rhinos heading toward the village. The Fire Nation was attacking!

Yun ran after the rhinos, ignoring Katara's calls.

"Firebenders are here," she called out, hoping the village chief can hear her. She kept running towards the dojo to make sure all the Kiyoshi warriors knew.

She then ran to her aunt's house and ran up the stairs. Skidding to her knees, she grabbed her bag from under her bed and began frantically throwing clothes in. She knew the drill. If they weren't able to defend this village, they were on the run again. She clicked her tongue, not knowing if the stray cat-owl that hung out in the house rafters would hear her. She held out her arm and clicked her tongue again when the cat-owl swooped down. Hopefully it would let her get it to safety. She couldn't find her aunt and there was no time to go to the tavern.

She ran down, just to see Katara running towards her. Startling as Katara grabbed her, she felt herself being pulled towards a flying Bison. That must be Appa.

Yun whirled around when she heard cracking wood. Behind her, the village was in flames. The market was blackened and the dojo was actively burning. The blistering heat was so familiar, too familiar. She hesitated. Her aunt, her village, and her friends were there.

"Don't you want to go to the North Pole,' Katara asked.

"But my aunt," Yun said, looking at her village.

"We have to go now," Katara said. "I'm not letting Aang stay here longer."

This was Yun's chance. If she didn't take it, she would have to wait for another ride to the North Pole. Her parents were waiting for her. Yun turned from the destruction of her village and let herself be led to the bison. The Avatar was already on the bison, and as she was being pulled up, the boy from the dojo climbed in too. With a "yip, yip", they flew into the sky. Yun looked at her village burning, another home that the Fire Nation destroyed. As they watched the village get smaller, Yun saw Aang willingly get on the Unagi and save the village.

Then the boy in the Kiyoshi uniform, presumably Sokka, asked, "Who's the new person? And why do we now have a cat-owl?"


	2. Book 1 Chapter 2: Omashu

Yun had been traveling with Katara, Aang, and Sokka for a few days before they decided to go on foot towards the kingdom of Omashu. While Yun was most comfortable around Katara, she took a few days to warm up to Aang and Sokka. She was too shy to say anything to Aang, because he was the Avatar. She was also too shy to talk to Sokka, because he was very loud and a little obnoxious. Yun was used to hanging out with the Kiyoshi warriors. She really wasn't used to being around boys at all.

Eventually, she was able to become friends with Aang and Sokka. It started with the fact that she was willing to look at Aang's tricks, always surprised by his use of airbending. Once she got over her discomfort, she began laughed at Sokka's jokes, which put her in his good books. Katara had started teaching her some waterbending techniques, because Yun's knowledge of waterbending was essentially nonexistent at that point. She even bonded with the stray cat-owl, which was still without a name. Yun really liked how it purred and hooted, especially when Yun scratched its chin.

Finally, after a few days of travel, the group landed outside of Omashu. Yun gasped at how big the city was, and how tall its walls were. Outside the gates, she left the cat-owl with Appa, urging it to be a good.

When they entered the city, Yun, Katara, and Sokka were amazed by how many buildings there were, none of them actually having been to a city before. Aang dragged the three of them to a mail chute, insisting that they ride it just like he and Bumi did in the olden days. It was a tight squeeze for four people, with Yun basically in Sokka's lap with her legs under Katara's armpits and her feet resting on Aang's back.

"Is this meant for four people," Yun asked, shifting so Sokka's knees weren't digging into her ribs.

"Remember, it's not meant for people!" With that joyous exclamation, Aang pushed them off. They all screamed, Sokka loudest of all right in Yun's ear. However, she was screaming as well, so she couldn't complain. Things began to get tricky when they were nearly stabbed by incoming spears, and then when they destroyed several rooftops and a wonderful pottery piece, and finally when they destroyed someone's cabbage cart. The cherry on top was when they finally got arrested and brought before the king. Did everyone who got arrested come before the king? Yun didn't really know. She did know that she was almost peeing her pants because of how scared she was. Her legs were shaking as she waited for the king to pass judgement on them.

Instead of imprisoning them or executing them, the king prepared a feast for them, which was even more confusing.

When the king asked Aang where he was from, he replied with Kangaroo Island. Where was this island? Yun certainly never heard of it.

"I hear that place is really hopping," Yun heard the king say, and she had to giggle, because that was pretty good.

Katara and Aang turned to Sokka who was full on guffawing at the joke, to which he said, "It was funny! And Yun laughed at it too!"

She pulled a straight face and shook her head, denying her part in this. They looked back at Sokka and shook their heads in tandem.

Things definitely took a turn for the worse when the king found out that Aang was the Avatar, they got imprisoned-ish, and Momo ate too much to fit through the vents.

"Your cat-owl would have been helpful now," Sokka said sorrowfully.

"The cat-owl is bigger than Momo," Yun pointed out, but she still felt worried. What were they going to do? Not to mention that the king said Aang would have to face three deadly challenges. That sounded dangerous.

However, as Katara said, there was no use worrying about things. They all needed the rest, especially Aang. Yun drifted off to sleep.

However what seemed like minutes later, she was awoken, held by an earthbender in an empty hallway. She opened her mouth to scream but her mouth was covered. She looked around wildly and saw Katara and Sokka in a similar state.

Then the hallway opened and they saw Aang and the king. The three were forcibly given creeping crystal rings, and they had to watch Aang go through the tests helplessly. Though Yun had to admit, Flopsy was cute. She would like to have a pet like Flopsy one day. Of course, the most surprising thing was that the king was a gigantic buff guy who was a master Earthbender. Aang really should have chosen the guy with the axe. She still maintains that the fact that king was super buff even when he was old was more surprising than the fact that the king was indeed Aang's old friend Bumi. She didn't know old people could be buff; doesn't that go against some old people rules or something? All the old people in the Southern islands weren't buff. Maybe they were, but they hid it very well?

Yun had much more crazy adventures with them. She saw Katara break Earthbenders out of a metal prison, she saw Sokka being captured by a spirit monster that turned out to be the guardian of the forest, and almost lost Aang to the Fire Nation when he went to commune with Roku. It was there that she saw for the first time Aang in the Avatar state. It was awe inspiring but terrifying at the same time. Yun felt the hair on her arms and the back of her neck stand up and she stared stunned at the magnificence of what she was seeing. Then Aang went back to normal and they had to get him out of there. It got even worse when the temple began to collapse. Yun could feel the heat as she lead the group looking for a way out. She pointed to the opening that Aang had blew open during his time in the Avatar state. They jumped out and Appa saved them, with Momo and the cat-owl flying behind them.

Yun was trembling on Appa's saddle, but she couldn't help but smile. She hoped to have many more adventures with everybody.


	3. Book 1 Chapter 3: Waterbending Scroll

Aang was pacing inside the saddle while Appa flew towards the North Pole. As Sokka voiced his concerns about Aang flying off the saddle if they hit an air bump, Aang began to freak out about his impending confrontation with the Fire Lord. Before he could make himself even more anxious, Katara said, "Calm down, it's going to be okay. I can teach you some of the stuff I know."

"Yeah," Yun said. "Katara is already teaching me some stuff. We can be waterbending pupils together."

With that, she stood up on the saddle as well and bowed to Aang.

"Hello, fellow waterbending pupil," she said.

Aang bowed to her.

"Hello, fellow waterbending pupil," he replied, grinning at her.

"We just need to find a good source of water first," Katara said, peering over Appa's saddle.

They found a beautiful mini lake with a waterfall, and as soon as they landed and got off Appa, he jumped into the water. He definitely deserved the rest. Aang was about to jump in when Katara reminded him why they were really there. While Sokka got to work cleaning between Appa's toes, the three benders found a more secluded spot and began to practice. It turned out that Aang was some sort of genius when it came to waterbending, and Katara was beginning to get frustrated. Combined with the fact that Aang just waterbended their supplies downriver, the lesson was very short.

"There's a town nearby where we could probably get all the stuff we need," Sokka says, wringing his clothes of water.

Katara checked what they had left.

"Two copper pieces."

"Oh," Yun exclaimed. "I have one more."

She placed it next to the other ones. Three copper pieces was all they had to buy all of their supplies.

"I think I'll stay here with Appa and cat-owl. I need to practice my waterbending anyways, and whenever I got to a market, looking at all the food makes me hungry," Yun said.

Sokka shrugged his shoulders, while Katara looked at her as if questioning if Yun was sure. She gave Katara a reassuring grin.

"Do you want anything from the market, Yun," Aang asked.

"Aang, we have three copper pieces. I don't really think we have any to spare," Katara says, while handing the money over to him.

"Besides, I don't really need anything anyways. Just food, I guess."

And with that the gang minus Yun headed off to the market.

Yun stayed behind, watching them go with Appa and cat-owl. She let out a sigh, relieved she had some alone time. Stretching, she decided to go back to her waterbending forms. Pull and push, pull and push. Honestly, practicing waterbending was a little boring. She wasn't a genius like Aang, so she didn't get things right away. She was able to make a little wave appear though, gently going back and forth. The one she was best at was what Katara called streaming water. It reminded her of dagger practice, which she hadn't done in a while. The water was an extension of her body the same way a dagger was. Water bending where she wasn't in direct contact with the water was harder, but when the water was closer to her, she definitely could control it exponentially better. It was just frustrating that she needed to be so aware of the water. If she could just conjure up a water tentacle, it would be amazing if it just was like a third arm. Then, she would be able to use one arm to eat, one arm to write, and the water tentacle to attack people. However, what she was doing now was not the most fun. Sighing, Yun let her water stream drop before wandering back to Appa

"Hey Appa, want to see my dagger skills?"

Appa snuffled.

"I'll take that as a yes."

Yun scrambled through her bag, pulling out her two dagger sheaths. Working with her daggers always came easy to Yun, unlike waterbending. Attaching them to her belt, she went through the basic dagger forms. She hadn't done this in a while, so she went through them hesitant at first. As she began repeating forms, she began moving through them more fluidly. Cat-owl and Appa looked at her for a few minutes before losing interest. She moved through her forms a few more times, enjoying the rhythms she had given up on Kiyoshi Island. Her aunt had never liked Yun's father and with that came her dislike for weapons in general, so her weapons were not allowed outside of her bag while she was in her aunt's house. Yun despised her for that rule. The beautiful daggers that her father had forged didn't deserve to be hidden away. Thinking of her dad incited a sharp pain in her heart that never seemed to get better. She sheathed her daggers and put them back in her bag. Snuggling up to Appa, she decided to take a quick nap.

She woke up to Aang, Katara, and Sokka rushing in the camp, puffing a little. Standing up, Yun was bombarded with how they were ambushed by pirates. Pirates? Why were they being chased by pirates?

Of course, Yun got her answer soon when Katara revealed the waterbending scroll that she had taken. Stealing was a bad idea, but stealing from pirates was an even worse idea. Yun was worried.

"Aren't they going to come back? Also, where are the supplies you were supposed to get?"

The three looked at each other sheepishly, before Aang pulled out his whistle.

"I got a bison whistle," he said sheepishly, and Yun facepalmed.

Sokka was still arguing with Katara about stealing, and Yun could see his point. They were all in danger because of that scroll. However, Katara did have a point in that it could help Aang learn waterbending. Yun knew better than to get involved in any of the sibling arguments so she and Aang stayed to the side.

Aang and Katara started practicing with the waterbending scroll, and Yun decided to get to the scroll later. Maybe she could ask Aang or Katara to teach her when they were done. She was never much of a reader anyways. She hung out with cat-owl, trying to teach it new tricks and think of a name for it. Maybe she should continue the fruit theme and name the cat-owl after a fruit. But cat-owl didn't really eat fruit. It did eat rabbit-mice. Maybe she should name it Mouse. Well, there was always time for that later.

It was then that she heard yelling. What was going on?

She ran over, just in time to hear Katara apologizing. What a short fight.

"What happened," she wondered out loud.

"Katara obviously stole the water scroll for herself, then got mad at Aang for being at splashing than she was, then apologized-."

"Can you shut up, Sokka," Katara yelled and walked away.

"And now she yelled at me for being totally correct," Sokka finished.

"I'll go talk to her," Yun offered. "Aang, don't worry about anything. Just look at the scroll and see if you can pick up more techniques."

Yun saw Katara near a clump of trees next to the waterfall. She sat next to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey," Yun said.

"Hey."

"I know it's frustrating, being bested by someone who is naturally gifted. It kinda sucks. A lot."

"Yeah, I know," Katara said, obviously frustrated. "But it's Aang, and I don't want to feel jealous, because he is the Avatar and it's good that he is naturally gifted, but I was supposed to be the teacher, and he is better than me at the one thing I am supposed to be good at."

With that, Katara's head fell in her hands.

"I hate feeling jealous," Katara said, her voice muffled by her hands.

"Well, I know that having the scroll is important for Aang to learn waterbending, but maybe you can take turns? When he isn't using the scroll, you can. You can learn together. There isn't anything wrong with that. I know you promised to teach him, but you guys can learn from each other. And then you can teach me, because I think I'll learn better from a teacher than a scroll."

Katara leaned on Yun.

"You know, I'm really glad to have you on this trip."

Yun grinned and said, "I'm glad I'm here too. Now let's get back, we need to set up camp. Or set up sleeping bags I guess."

She woke up the next morning to find Katara's sleeping bag empty.

"I don't believe it," Sokka said, emptying his bag. "She took the scroll. She's obsessed with that thing."

"Maybe she just woke up early and began practicing with it. That isn't a crime," Yun said, trying to diffuse the tension.

"You always take her side. You-"

Sokka never got to finish that thought because suddenly the group was ambushed. Before they could retaliate, the were all caught in nets and brought before a Fire Nation group.

"Katara," Yun gasped.

Katara looked at Aang.

"Aang, this is all my fault."

"No, Katara, it isn't."

"It kind of is," said an old man in Fire Nation clothing.

While the Fire Nation group and the pirates decided to trade the waterbending scroll for Aang, Sokka started telling the pirate group that they should keep Aang and sell him on the black market. Yun's eyes bugged out of her head. What was he doing?

The pirate group decided to keep Aang and that is when the chaos started. The groups started fighting. The fire close up reminded me of when Yun was eight and her village was burning down. Yun could feel the heat, and the fear she had buried so long ago was creeping up. She could hear Sokka and Aang calling for each other and her, but her own voice was locked in her throat. She was lucky Sokka managed to bump into her, untie her and drag her towards the sound of Aang's voice. They started running towards where Katara was trying to push the pirates' boat into the water.

They tried pushing with brute strength when Sokka stopped.

"Why are we doing this when we have three waterbenders? Do your splashy splashy thing and get us out of here!"

Yun stopped, dumbfounded. Why didn't they think of that earlier?

Katara dragged her to one side of the boat.

"Aang, you are in charge of that side, we'll take care of it on this side. Push and pull, okay?"

It was a lot easier after that, and they all hurriedly climbed into the boat. There problems weren't over. They saw the pirates pursuing them, with some of them boarding the boat. Yun really wished she had her daggers with her, but they were in Sokka's bag, and that was on Appa, so she would have to rely on her waterbending which she was much less confident with. She decided to brute strength it until someone else could help, dousing them with as much water which she could lift until Aang or Katara could take care of it. Of course, they had to be approaching a waterfall as well. Yun wondered why their group could never catch a break. Katara and Aang decided the push and pull technique, slowing the boat before the waterfall, and Yun tried slowing the boat pursuing them. However, she couldn't stop it by herself, and the pirates' boat crashed into them, sending them over the waterfall. Yun could feel her heart in her throat, her hands desperately clutching onto Aang's and Sokka's hands. She thought they were going to die, when Appa swooped in. How many times had Appa saved them? Probably too many times to count. Yun knew next time she landed, she was giving Appa the biggest hug, and an entire melon. . . if she could find the money for it.

They had been flying for a while before Yun cleared her throat.

"Who were those people? Not the pirates, the Fire Nation people. It seemed like you knew them?"

"That was Zuko. He's a Fire Nation prince who has been tracking us since the South Pole, trying to capture Aang. This time, he used my mother's necklace against me."

"Katara, I'm so sorry," Yun said. She knew how much that necklace meant to Katara. Yun then realized something.

"Wait, since the South Pole? That is dedication. Why is he trying that hard," Yun asks.

"Something about honor," Sokka says, lying flat on Appa's saddle, exhausted.

Yun accepts it, too tired to do anything else. Curling up, she falls asleep. She can faintly hear Katara apologizing before she drifts off into dreamland.


	4. Book 1 Chapter 4: Fortune Teller

The group decided to land near a river. Appa needed to rest, and Sokka was confident he could catch some fish. Aang was showing off his woven necklace to Katara, while Yun and Sokka were trying to catch a leaping fish.

"Sokka, obviously throwing a fishing rod at it won't work. You better find it before we leave."

"Geez Yun, you're spending so much time with Katara, you're beginning to sound like her."

"I'll take that as a compliment. Sokka, behind you. Catch the fish!"  
They both heard Aang say that Katara looked great with the necklace on and Sokka decided to tease them, before Katara interjected.

"Stop teasing him, Sokka. Aang's just a good friend, a sweet little guy, just like Momo."

Yun winced at that. She could obviously tell that Aang had a giant crush on Katara, and Katara was peacefully oblivious. Good luck, Aang.

Then, they all heard a sound. They all rushed over to see an extremely calm man facing off against a platypus bear.

"Make noise, he'll run off," Aang called out.

"No, play dead. It'll lose interest," Sokka refuted.

"Run downhill and climb a tree," Katara suggested.

"Don't climb a tree! Punch it in the beak and puff out your chest," Yun shouted.

"Run in zigzags," Aang added.

The man didn't do anything and nearly got his head clawed off. Aang jumped into help, and so did Appa, who scared the platypus bear away. The group walked up to him, and Yun gave Appa a loving pat.

The traveler said that his safe journey was already predicted by their town fortune teller, Aunt Wu, gave them an umbrella and left. Soon after he left, it started raining, so it was a good thing he came by.

"I want my fortune told," Yun said, under the umbrella.

"So do I," Katara said.

"Don't tell me you really believe in that stuff. It isn't real," Sokka said, holding the egg above his head.

"I guess you aren't _really_ getting wet then," Katara said, Aang and Yun laughing.

When the reached the town, they went to Aunt Wu's fortune telling shop. A little girl came to greet them. Yun could tell she was checking out Aang. That wouldn't go well. She then looked around the waiting room, taking in the nice furniture. How could Aunt Wu afford all of this without charging for her fortune telling? Maybe donations, Yun figured.

They were sitting on the floor, Yun, Katara, and Aang waiting for Aunt Wu, and Sokka waiting for Aunt Wu's bean curd puffs. A woman walked into the waiting room.

"Oh Meng, Aunt Wu says I'm going to meet my true love. He's going to give me a rare panda lily."

Yun didn't really know if she believed in true love. Having one person who was destined for you seemed kinda scary.

Aunt Wu entered, saying, "Welcome young travellers."

Katara ended up getting her fortune told, while the rest of them waited.

"What do you think they're talking about in there," Aang asked, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Boring stuff probably. Love, whose she gonna marry, how many babies she's gonna have," Sokka said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, I gotta find a bathroom," Aang said springing up.

"You better not spy on Katara's fortune telling session. It's private," Yun warned, pointing a finger at Aang.

"Of course not, just gotta pee. Just innocent peeing. I'll be back." Aang sped out of the room.

"It's not real, so why does it matter," Sokka asked, mouth full of the bean curd puff.

"Shut up, Sokka," Yun humphed.

Aang walked back in, a spring in his step.

"Looks like someone had a good bathroom break," Sokka crows.

Yun just narrowed her eyes at Aang, who looked away guiltily.

"Who's next," Aunt Wu asked.

"I guess I'll get this over with," Sokka sighs, pulling himself up to his feet.

"Your future is full of struggle and anguish, most of it self-inflicted."  
Yun laughed at this one. It sounded about right for Sokka.

"Could I be next," she asked, raising her hand.

"Yes, come along."

Yun followed her into a room with two cushions opposite each other separated by a low table. She took a seat on one of the cushions and waited for Aunt Wu to take a seat in the other.

"Do you want me to do a palm reading for you," Aunt Wu asked.

"I need to know where my parents are. Is there any way you could tell me whether they are in the North Pole or not?"

Aunt Wu looked at Yun sadly and shook her head.

"Alas, fortune telling cannot predict specific locations or events like this. However, I can do a tea leaf reading to see if you find your parents."

"It doesn't say when? It won't tell me when I find my parents?"

"I'm sorry, but no. Would you still like to try?"

Yun steeled herself. She tried convincing herself that any answer would be better than no answer.

"Yes, I would like to try."

Clenching her hands into fists to prevent shaking, Yun forced her eyes to wander and not stare at Aunt Wu preparing the tea. The shoji were nice, and the carpets were a nice shade of earth brown. Those jade green accents were pretty awesome too. Yun's eyes kept flitting in order to keep her mind off of what was to come.

When Aunt Wu gave her the teacup, she accepted it with shaking hands and began to drink.

"Think of your parents when you drink your tea," Aunt Wu said.

Yun thought of her parents, of their warm hugs, of her father's big grin and her mother's gentle smile. She remembered her mother's fingers playing with her hair, and her father's big hands picking her up so she could see during festivals. She remembered bed time, when they would both come in to blow out the candles and say "I love you". Yun set down the teacup, tears pooling in her eyes but unshed.

Aunt Wu picked up the teacup and put it upside down on a cloth. Spinning it three times and tapping the top of it, she overturned the cup and began studying it.

"It looks like you will find your parents," Aunt Wu began. "It just will not be the way you expect to find them."

"What does that mean? Is there anything more you can tell me?"  
"I'm sorry, but that is all the tea leaves tell me in this situation."  
"Please help me. Is there anything more you could tell me," Yun begged, tears leaking out of the corner of her eyes. "I just need to know if they are in the North Pole."

Aunt Wu looked sorry, leaning over to wipe a tear with the pad of her thumb.

"Cheer up, dear child. You control your destiny. Now you know you will find them."

Yun continued to look down at the table, tears leaking down her face.

"Here child, I'll do a palm reading as well for you. Let me look at your love life. That is what I am best at. Come on, wipe those tears, and give me your right hand," Aunt Wu said comfortingly.

Yun sniffed noisily before wiping her eyes with her sleeves. She noticed she needed to get new clothes, her sleeves where getting shorter. She gave her right hand to Aunt Wu, but warned her, "I don't believe in true love though."

Aunt Wu just laughed and grabbed her hand. She turned it, twisting it one way and then the other.

"Your fear will turn to friendship and then love."

Yun was done with fortune telling. Everything was so vague, and maybe no answers were better than these answers. She quickly thanked Aunt Wu, and left, brushing past Aang who was being ushered in.

She sat back on the cushion in the waiting room, waiting for Aang's reading to be finished. Sokka turned towards her, ready to begin teasing, when he saw her puffy eyes.

"Did she make you cry," he asked, ready to get on his feet.

Katara quickly looked over to indeed see Yun's red rimmed eyes.

"What happened," she asked scooting over to Yun, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Yun sighed and said, "I just wanted information about my parents and I didn't get anything. I was just a little frustrated. No biggie. Sokka, sit down. I'm fine."

Katara leaned over and hugged Yun and Sokka did as well, but not before adding, "I don't really know what's going on but I'll hug you anyways."

"How did your fortune telling go anyways, Katara," Yun asked. "Hopefully a little better than mine."

"Yes," Katara said dreamily. "I found out what I needed to know."

When Aang's session was done, the four of them walked out. Yun noticed Aang and Katara were pretty happy with their fortunes, so the trip to Aunt Wu was worth it. However, she still wanted time to mull over her fortune, and in order to do so, she needed to be alone for a bit.

"Hey guys, I'm going to go get money from the bag in Appa's saddle and see if we can get more supplies here. You guys can just enjoy the town."

"You sure," Sokka asked, picking at bean curd puff bits between his teeth.

"Yup, we don't need much so I won't have trouble carrying it back."

Yun began walking towards the area that they had Appa hidden away. Upon reaching Appa, she scrambled onto his back in order to get the bag with the money and a few bags to carry things.

She whistled and asked, "Cat-owl, want to come with me?"

Holding out her arm for the cat-owl to perch on, laughing at is trilling meow.

"You get to go exploring with me. You don't care if I get moody, do you? You hardly care about anything at all. That's why I like you so much."

Yun let the cat-owl walk up her arm to perch on her shoulder. Carrying the money with one hand the the bags with the other, she began walking towards the town. She browsed, picking up some non-perishable food and stopping to look at some sleeping bags. Did they need a new one? No, they really only needed food at the moment. While walking back, she had time to think about her fortune. She would find her parents but not in the way she expected. Should she still continue to the North Pole then? She expected to find them in the North Pole, so maybe they wouldn't be there? Or perhaps, they would be at the North Pole and wouldn't remember her? There were so many possibilities that Yun didn't know what to do. She stopped for a while before getting an idea. She put her bags of food down and hid the money in her pocket. She sat down and put two rocks in front of her and took cat-owl off of her shoulder and placed it on the ground.

"Okay, cat-owl. There are two rocks on the ground. The one on the left says that I should go to the North Pole. The one on the right says I should go back to Kiyoshi Island."

She released cat-owl and waited to see which rock it would choose, her heart in her throat. Instead of choosing a rock, cat-owl hooted disapprovingly and flew off. Standing up quickly, she tried to catch it, but she couldn't. Wow, that was rude. So it wanted to fly off, fine, see if she would care. Actually, Yun was kinda worried. Maybe it flew back to Appa.

Carrying the food and left over money back to Appa, she felt a rumble and looked at the volcano. How had she not noticed that before? Yun looked at the plume of smoke drifting up from the volcano. Her friends were still in the village. She started running towards the village.

She saw Sokka and rushed towards him.

"The volcano's about to blow! Why aren't people evacuating," she asked breathlessly.

"We have a plan. Help me find Aunt Wu."  
Sokka and Yun ran towards Aunt Wu's place. Sokka burst inside, grabbed Aunt Wu and started pulling her to the main square. Yun grabbed Aunt Wu's other hand and started pulling her as well. Sokka pointed towards the sky, saying, "Aunt Wu, look. Something's happening in the clouds."

"That can't be," Aunt Wu started to say, before looking towards the sky. She then gasped. There was a skull in the clouds. All the residents of the village started gathering and Sokka began laying out his plan. The plan was to dig a deep enough trench around the village and redirect the lava to flow into the river.

"I'm going to go get Appa, I'm sure he can help us," Yun called out before running back into the woods.

Running up to Appa, she got on and yelled, "Yip, yip". She directed Appa towards the village, landing him next to Aang.

"Aang, I'm going to go get a shovel. Here's Appa."

As she slid off, there was another rumble from the volcano. She could see the red lava spilling from the top of the cone and hear Sokka's shrieked, "Dig faster!". Grabbing a shovel, she began helping the villagers with digging the trench. Her heart was beating faster than a flying-hare could run, and her hands were sweating and shaking. Still, she kept digging. When they were done, she stood back with Aang, Katara, and Sokka, while the other villagers evacuated.

The lava began to flow into the trench, but the trench wasn't deep enough. It was going to overflow and burn the village. Another wave of lava began flowing down the volcano, and right as it was about to overflow, Aang leapt up and delivered a wave of air against it, cooling it right as the wave of lava was about to descend upon the village.

"Man, sometimes I forget what a powerful bender that kid is," Sokka said.

"What did you just say," Katara asked, shocked.

"He said that Aang's a powerful bender, and I have to agree," Yun said, her voice filled with wonder.

"I suppose he is," Katara said to herself. Yun wondered what was going through her mind.

Just as she said that, the saw cat-owl flying towards them. It settled on Yun shoulder, meowing in her ear.

"There you are. How could you fly away from me like that. Let this be a lesson to you. Flying around by yourself makes volcanoes explode," Yun scolded it. It just began to chew on her hair.

"You still haven't named it yet," Sokka asked.

"Nope."

Katara, Sokka, and Yun walked back to Appa after everyone came back to the village, while Aang stopped to talk to Aunt Wu. Sokka and Katara had filled her in on everything she had missed while she was away. Yun decided that she wasn't going to pay much attention to Aunt Wu's predictions. If she couldn't predict that a volcano could explode, she shouldn't be able to predict her parents' location either. She would find her parents, and the first place she would look was the North Pole.


	5. Book 1 Chapter 5: Waterbending Teacher

"I'm not one to complain, but can't Appa fly any higher," Sokka asked, looking at the ocean.

"You're complaining," grumbled Yun, curled up in the part of the saddle closest to Aang.

"I have an idea," Aang yelled. "Why don't we all get on your back and _you_ fly us to the North Pole."

"_I'd _love to. Climb on my back everyone. Sokka is ready for takeoff." Sokka wiggled his butt for extra effect.

"Look, we're all just a little tired and cranky from flying two days straight," Katara said soothingly.

"And for what. We can't even find the Northern Water Tribe," Sokka complained.

"We're definitely going to find it with you complaining, right? That's definitely how it works," Yun said, fed up with Sokka's constant whining.

"That's what I'm here for. Complaining. I'm the complaining guy."

"Why don't you take a turn being the silent guy," Yun snapped back. She was on her last nerve, and Sokka wasn't helping her sanity.

"Why don't you take a turn being the silent-"

Sokka was cut off by a piece of ice appearing out of nowhere and Appa swerving wildly to avoid it. They all screamed, Katara, Sokka, and Yun hanging desperately onto the saddle. There were a few more jerky movements before Appa found himself encased in ice, waterbenders in boats approaching from all sides.

"They're waterbenders! We found the water tribe," Katara cried out victoriously.

The waterbenders led Appa to the walls of the Northern Water Tribe. Yun had never seen anything like it. It was beautiful, white and pristine. The wall was opened by the waterbenders, similar to what they saw with the wall in Omashu. As Appa continued inside, Yun's marvel grew even further. There were a series of walls and platforms, raised and lowered by waterbenders allowing water through gates and pushing water out of gates. Inside the walls were even better. There were whole buildings, fountains, and bridges made from snow and ice, but they looked unmeltable. Intricate designs were carved everywhere, giving the nation a look of affluence and beauty.

"This place is beautiful," Katara said, her eyes opened wide with wonder.

"Yeah, she is," Sokka said, sighing dreamily.

Yun turned around to see him gazing at a boat with a woman in it.

"Ooooo, someone's in love," she whispered to Katara, and they both giggled.

Later that night, a feast was prepared for the arrival of the Avatar. Yun's stomach grumbled at the promise of a real meal. They hadn't eaten properly in forever. She was really glad she travelled with the Avatar. Sure, sometimes they were chased by pirates, or the Fire Nation, or a really persistent and crazy exiled prince, but they sure were greeted in style from time to time.

The man who had introduced them also introduced his daughter, Princess Yue. She was beautiful, her long white hair and beautiful tan skin. Yun's eyes then widened. That was the girl in the boat that Sokka was looking at. She turned to look at Sokka, who was staring at her with a lovesick expression. She giggled internally. Yun wondered if Sokka knew how embarrassing he looked? Yun promised herself that she wouldn't be like that when she got older.

The village chief then introduced Master Pakku and his students. They were amazing, all waterbending in sync. Wide eyed, Yun tracked their movements, how their hands and body moved fluidly as a single entity. It really was like dagger fighting. Kind of. Just slower, and more flowy. But essentially the same thing.

Later, she saw Aang talking to Master Pakku. He didn't look very nice, the line between his eyebrows very prominent, as if he frowned a lot.

When Aang came back to sit with them, Yun asked, "Is it okay if we come with you to train?"

"Yup! We have to meet him at sunrise."

"Is he nice?'

"Hmmm. . . not really?"

The next morning, they walked to where Master Pakku was to train them. Katara was giddy with excitement.

"I've been waiting for this moment my whole life. I finally get to learn from a real waterbending master," she said brightly.

"Good morning, Master Pakku," Aang yelled, disrupting the still morning.

"No, please, march right in. I'm not concentrating or anything," he said grumpily, dropping the water he had been working with.

"Uhh . . . these are my friends, Katara and Yun, the ones I told you about."

Master Pakku looked at us both critically before summoning an ice chair for himself.

"I'm sorry, I think there's been a misunderstanding. You didn't tell me your friends were girls. In our tribe, it is forbidden for women to learn waterbending."

Yun was shocked, so shocked that she felt numb. She didn't even know how to react. She just stood there, mouth open. Katara was just angry.

"What do you mean you won't teach me? I didn't travel across the whole world so you could tell me no!"

"No," Master Pakku said.

Yun finally found her voice.

"There have to be female waterbenders here, though, right?"

"Females learn from Yugoda to use their waterbending to heal," Master Pakku said. "I'm sure she would be happy to take you two as students, despite your bad attitude."

"I don't want to heal, I want to fight," Katara said angrily.

"I can see that, but our tribe has rules, customs."

"Well, your rules stink," Katara yelled.

"Could you make an exception? We did travel, Katara from the South Pole and I from Kiyoshi Island," Yun explained, trying to diffuse the tension, but also trying to talk some sense into this pigheaded waterbender.

"Yeah, make an exception for them or else-," Aang started.

Yun began to dread what he was going to say next. He was the Avatar, he needed to learn waterbending. She opened her mouth to stop Aang from saying anything, but Master Pakku spoke.

"Or else what," he questioned threateningly.

"Or else I won't learn waterbending with you." Aang stormed off.

"Wait," Katara said. "Aang didn't mean that."

Yun was already running after Aang, determined to talk some sense into him.

"Aang," she whispered furiously once she caught up to him. "Don't do this."

"Why? He's a bully. I don't want to learn from him," Aang said, gesturing angrily. Yun looked helplessly at Katara, who put both hands on Aang's shoulders and turned him to face her.

"You can't risk your training for us. You have to learn from Master Pakku. We'll find another way, won't we Yun?"

"Yeah Aang, we will be fine! I'm sure there is some library here we could learn from, or maybe this Yugoda lady won't be so bad. Just don't ruin your chance. It's so much bigger than the both of us."

"You have to learn with him, even if he is a giant jerk," Katara said, glaring at him.

"The biggest jerk," Yun agreed, nodding her head.

Aang nodded and walked towards Master Pakku while Yun and Katara walked away from him.

"I guess we find Yugoda now," Yun sighed. Healing was definitely not what she had in mind when she said she wanted to learn waterbending.

"I guess," Katara said glumly. Her shoulders were hunched forward, and her eyes had lost the excited gleam they had this morning. Yun put a hand on her shoulder.

"Let's go talk somewhere first."

They found steps to some building and sat at the foot of them. Yun started talking.

"I'm sorry that this didn't work out. But as . . . people say, when one door closes, another one opens. Maybe we'll learn some awesome healing tricks. Who knows?"

"I guess."

"We don't have to go, Katara," Yun said gently.

"No," Katara said, shaking her head as if to clear it. "I want to go." She paused for a second, before getting up and helping Yun get up to. When Yun was steady on her feet, Katara hugged her.

"Let's do this," she said, smiling at Yun.

"Yeah, let's go," Yun said, grinning.

They reached Yugoda's igloo where she was demonstrating something on a wooden dummy.

"Hello, are you Yugoda" Katara said hesitantly. Yun stood a little behind her. She still wasn't great with strangers.

"Yes, I am. Are you two here for my healing class," she asked with a kind smile.

"I guess."

They both sat down next to girls clearly younger than them. Both of them looked at each other before their shoulders slumped a bit.

After class, Katara went up to thank Yugoda for the class, and Yun trailed behind her a little.

"So who's the lucky guy," Yugoda asked, gesturing to her necklace. Yun's eyes nearly popped out of her head. Katara had a lucky guy? Poor Aang. However, Katara seemed confused until Yugoda said, "Your betrothal necklace. You're getting married right?"

"No I don't think I'm ready for that yet," Katara said, shaking her head. Yun wondered if she would ever be ready for it. She really couldn't imagine herself with a husband and a child. She could imagine Katara with a husband and a child. She just seemed really motherly, almost too motherly. Katara was only a few months older than Yun, but she acted years more mature. Yun wondered if she acted too immature. Should she try to act more like Katara? Maybe she should tease Sokka less and probably fight with him less as well?

Yun realized she lost track of the conversation when Katara backed up into her and asked Yugoda, "How do you know my Gran-gran's name?"

What was going on? Yun was confused. She then heard Yugoda talking about how her and Katara's Gran-gran had been friends. Katara's Gran-gran was from the Northern Water tribe? Yun was now more confused. Her Gran-gran was engaged and then left? Yun had so many questions.

They all met back in a tent at the end of the day.

"How's warrior training going," Katara asked Sokka, who just grunted and kicked his sleeping bag.

"That bad," Yun asked, not sure if Sokka was in actual distress or if he was being dramatic.

"No, it's Princess Yue. I don't get it. One minute, she wants to go out with me, the next, she's telling me to get lost."

"Love problems. They're hard," Yun said, shaking her head.

"What would you know about love? You're just a kid," Sokka scoffed, flopping to face the ceiling.

"I'm not a kid! I'm a teenager," Yun retorted. "And besides, I think romantic love is dumb. I already have enough problems as it is. Why would I want to add love on top of it all. I'll never fall in love."

"Just saying that proved you are still a kid," Sokka said. Changing the subject, he asked, "How's waterbending training?"

Yun groaned and Katara slumped face first onto her sleeping bag.

"Master Poophead won't teach them, because they're girls."

"Why don't you just teach them, Aang," Sokka asked.

"Why didn't I think of that," Katara said, springing up from her sleeping bag. "At night, you can teach us the moves you learn from Master Pakku. That way you have the two of us to practice with and we get to learn waterbending. Everyone's happy."

"I'm not happy," Sokka grumped.

"You're never happy," Yun teased.

Sokka just stuck his tongue out at her.

"Now looks who's the kid," Yun said.

Aang and Katara had only been outside a few moments, and when Yun was about to stand up and join them, they both came in looking frantic.

"Master Pakku caught me training Katara," Aang said, pale and shaky. "I don't think he's going to be training me anymore."

Katara just looked so guilty that Yun's heart wrenched.

"It's okay. We'll go talk to the village chief. We can ask him to convince Master Pakku to come around and teach Aang again," Yun said. "No big deal. It will work out. It's not as if they could say no to the Avatar, right?"

They definitely did say no to the Avatar. And they were going to keep saying no to the Avatar until Katara apologized, which she didn't. Instead, she challenged Master Pakku to a duel. Yun was dumbfounded. What just happened? Then they did start fighting, and Yun was biting her nails nervously. Katara kept getting swept around; it was clear who had experience and who didn't. However, she was holding her own quite well. Yun would be feeling proud if she wasn't so nervous. Then, she was encased in ice shards, and Yun's heart rate doubled. Master Pakku began walking away before he picked up Katara's necklace. It turned out he was Katara's Gran-gran's fiance! It kinda made sense. If Master Pakku was Yun's fiance, she would run away to the other side of the world too. Then, Yue ran off crying and then Sokka ran off. Honestly, this was just too much drama for Yun to handle. She honestly had no idea what was going on, and she had even less idea on what she was supposed to be doing at that moment.

The group gathered was gradually leaving, Aang and her being the only ones waiting for Katara. From the corner of her eye, she saw someone who she thought was from her village. She quickly turned around, but they had already dispersed. Her thoughts were racing. If someone that she knew from the village was there, there was a possibility that her parents were here too. She had time to learn waterbending another time. And she wasn't sure Master Pakku would take her on anyways. She hadn't impressed him with her waterbending skills, Katara had.

When they all gathered in the tent that night, Yun laid in bed, thinking about what she should do. She wanted to stay with Aang, Katara, and Sokka. In the time that she had traveled with them, she felt close to them. It was the first time she had such close human connection in such a long time since her village burned down. They felt like family to her. On the other hand, the reason she came up to the North Pole was to find her parents, her actual family. She knew her hesitance to even look stemmed from the fear that they might not be here at all, but she'd never know if she didn't look. She was starting to forget what their voices sounded like, what they looked like when they were angry, what songs they would hum when they focused on something. The small things were fading from her memory, and she was scared she would soon forget them all together. She looked at her friends, sleeping peacefully and smiled sadly. She had to go. She had to find her parents. She tiptoed out of the tent, heading towards where Appa was staying. His saddle was near him, and it still had some of her stuff. She tried to be quiet when trying to get her bag, but Appa let out a gentle snort, letting her know he was awake. Cat-owl also hooted, showing it was awake too. She held her fingers up to her lips, signaling for them to be quiet. She walked over and hugged as much of Appa as she could, burrowing her fingers in his fluff.

"I'll miss you, Appa. I'll miss all of you so badly. But if I don't leave now, I'm scared I won't ever. I really, really, really love all of you. Aang, Katara, Sokka, you, Momo, everybody. I love you guys so much it hurts. So that is a lot of love, you know? Thanks for keeping me company so much. And listening to me talk. And watching me practice with my daggers."

Appa just licked her and nuzzled her, leaving Yun with Appa's fur in her mouth and fondness in her heart. She looked towards the cat-owl.

"Are you coming with me or staying with them?"

Cat-owl flew onto her shoulder and mewed into her ear. Stroking its head, she picked up her things and walked away.


	6. Book 1 Chapter 6: Siege of the North

Early that morning, she began walking around the street with all of her stuff and cat-owl, wondering where she should start. There had to be some sort of immigration building or something right? She asked someone who was up early that morning, and they pointed towards a large building close to the center of the city. She began walking there, looking at the buildings and the boats and the bridges. Would she feel comfortable living here with her parents once she found them? Maybe they would go to the Southern Islands and try to start their lives over again. The possibilities were endless. She could introduce her parents to the Avatar; she was sure they would be impressed. She could show her father her dagger skills, and he could teach her more. Her mother could teach her waterbending, even if Master Pakku refused to teach her.

She walked into the immigration building, ornate but somber. She went up to the front desk, which was a little too tall. Putting down her things and placing a sleeping cat-owl next to them, she had to go up to the tips of her toes to properly see over it. Was this building built for giants?

"Excuse me, if someone was running from the Fire Nation and wanted to reside here for an indeterminate amount of time, would they see you here?"

The man behind the desk look up and lifted an eyebrow.

"Are you running from the Fire Nation?"

"No, but my parents were. My village burned down six years ago, and my parents told me they'd meet me here at the North Pole."

"I'm sorry, but our records don't date that far back. Our policy is that if one has resided here in the Northern Water tribe for more than two years, their records as refugees are purged, and they are granted citizenship. This is to protect the privacy of our citizens, you see?"

"Could you just tell me if anyone in your records were from the Southern Islands? Maybe if I can talk to them, they could tell me where my parents are?"

"That, young lady, would be a breach of privacy."

"Please, please, help me. I need to see my parents. I have spent six years wishing to go to the North Pole, and now you can't help me? I have dreamed of my parents nearly every night since the night I was separated from them. I need to see them. Do you understand how I feel? Please, if you have any sympathy in your heart for me, please help me."  
The man looked down and Yun and then sighed.

"Fine, I'll look it up. Don't you dare tell anyone though."

"Thank you so much!" He waved his hand dismissively.

"I'm only doing this to get rid of you. You would have caused a scene otherwise. And I don't need that in this building. I need peace and order," he said, going to the back of the room. After a few minutes, he came back to the front.

"Ask a boat to take you to 106, 6. There is a family from the Southern Islands there. Also, don't come back. This is all the information I can give you."

"Thank you, I will forever be indebted to you." Yun bowed before rushing down to flag a boat.

"Take me to 106, 6, please," she said as she was boarding. Just as they were about to head off, a giant splash nearly rocked Yun off the boat, and she watched all of her possessions tumble to the ground except for her daggers which she had sheathed at her waist and cat-owl which she was cradling in her arms. The loud noise awakened cat-owl, who began hoot-meowing wildly. Looking around to see what was the cause, she saw a giant, flaming boulder. Yun gasped. It had to be the Fire Nation! Her friends were probably facing off against them.

"Nevermind, take me to the gate. As fast as you can!"

When Yun arrived at the gate, it was partially destroyed.

"Sokka, Katara, where are you guys," Yun called out, scared she might not find them.

She heard a "Yun?" and followed the sound. She saw Sokka and Katara and ran to hug them.

"Where were you," Katara asked.

"I'll explain later. What's the plan," Yun asked, eyeing the multitude of Fire Nation ships approaching.

"Sokka is going on a mission with other Water Tribe men," Katara explained.

"What about us," Yun asked. Katara just shrugged.

Sokka ran off to join the other men on their mission while Katara and Yun watched helplessly with Princess Yue. The fireballs kept raining down upon them until all of a sudden, at sunset, they stopped. The ships appeared to have dropped their anchors.

"Aang," Katara called out to Aang and Appa who had been out trying to stop Fire Nation ships. They all ran down to greet them. Aang slid off of Appa and onto the floor.

"I can't do it. I must've taken down a dozen Fire Navy ships, but there's just too many of them."

"But you have to do it," Princess Yue said despairingly. "You're the Avatar."

"I'm just a kid," Aang said, his head in his arms.

Katara and Yun knelt beside Aang, Katara putting a hand on his shoulder and Yun sitting shoulder to shoulder with him. What were they to do?

It was nighttime and the boats were still at rest. Princess Yue was telling Yun, Katara, and Aang about how the waterbenders drew their strength from the moon, and how the Spirits of the Ocean and the Moon were the ones who kept balance.

"The Spirits! Maybe I can find them and get some help," Aang said.

"The Avatar is the bridge between our world and the Spirit world," Katara explained to Princess Yue.

"Maybe they will give you the wisdom to win this battle," Princess Yue exclaimed excitedly.

"Or maybe they'll unleash a crazy, amazing spirit attack on the Fire Nation," Aang said.

"I hope it's the second one," Yun said softly, standing a little behind Katara. She wasn't exactly comfortable around Princess Yue. She wasn't exactly sure how to speak to a princess.

Yue ended up leading them to the most spiritual place in the North Pole. It was beautiful and green and warm. It didn't make much sense. Cat-owl hooted and flew to perch in a tree. It probably was used to warmer climates than the North Pole and seemed to be enjoying itself quite a bit more in the warmer sanctuary.

Yun saw Momo poking around in the pool of water, and cleared her throat; she crossed her arms and looked at him disapprovingly before realizing Katara and Princess Yue were doing the same thing. Good. Momo was a naughty lemur and he deserved some disapproval.

Aang sat down to meditate and prepare to enter the Spirit World while Katara, Yun, and Yue watched. As he watched the circling koi, his arrows started to glow.

"What's happening," Yue asked.

"He's entered the Spirit World," Yun explained.

"Yeah, we just can't move his body now. It's his way back from the Spirit World," Katara said.

"Maybe we should call for some help," Yue suggested.

"No, its fine. Aang's our friend. Yun and I should be enough."

Yun wanted to remind Katara that she was the only one with actual waterbending experience, when a voice she definitely didn't want to hear spoke.

"Well, aren't you a big girl now."

"No," Katara gasped.

"Yes," he growled.

"I know this is a bad time, but I can't help but admire his persistence," Yun commented, horrified but amazed he managed to breach the inner sanctum.

"Definitely the wrong time for that, Yun," Katara growled at Yun.

"Right," she squeaked, ready to grab her daggers.

"Hand him over and I won't have to hurt you," Zuko said, stalking over to the girls.

He immediately started shooting fire at them, but Katara parried immediately, shoving him back.

"Go Katara, atta girl," Yun cheered.

"I see you've learned a new trick, but I didn't come this far to lose to you," he said, getting back up. Seriously, he was terrifying. Before he could do anything though, Katara pushed him back once more, froze his feet, and then encased him in a ball of frozen ice. Yun's jaw dropped.

"Katara," she said, the awe evident in her voice. "You might be the most amazing waterbender I've ever seen."

Then Zuko broke out a few seconds later. Yun couldn't move away, but couldn't move in to help. Her waterbending wasn't at a level she could aim, and she wasn't about to chuck her dagger. It was meant for close combat, which means she would be useless against Zuko. She wondered where Princess Yue might have gone, but she couldn't look away from Zuko and Katara. He was getting closer and closer to Aang. He got past Katara and was about to close his hand around Aang's collar when Yun stepped in close, a dagger unsheathed and pressed against his throat.

"Don't move," she warned him.

"Your hand is shaking," he smirked, before kicking her away. She landed a few feet away with a cry, losing her grip on her dagger. In that moment, however, Katara was able to push him away once again, up a wall and freeze him there. She ran to help Yun up, and Yun grabbed her dagger and sheathed it. She looked for cat-owl, but when she didn't immediately see it, she decided to keep her eyes on Zuko. And then daybreak came.

He managed to melt the ice encasing him and immediately shot a fire blast at Katara. She tried to block it, but was instead knocked backwards. He then turned towards Yun.

"You're a nonbender, aren't you? Even worse, you're a weak nonbender. I don't even need to use my fire on you."

He came closer, about to strike Yun, when cat-owl came out, covering Zuko's eyes with his wings. However, he was flung aside, flamed from Zuko's fingers burning his wings. Yun had enough time to unsheath her daggers, rushing forward with a yell. She was able to dodge the first strike and was about to drive her dagger through his throat, just like her father taught her. However, she was unbalanced and the last thing she saw was an open palm coming towards her face before she blacked out.

Yun opened her eyes to see Katara's face, her eyes full of tears.

"What happened," Yun asked, her memory still groggy, and her head aching. She tried to get up, before sinking to the ground again, a wave of nausea hitting her.

"He took Aang. He took him right out from under me," Katara said tearfully.

"It was my fault," Yun said heavily, looking around for cat-owl. "I can't even use my waterbending, and he had no problem getting through me."

Sokka placed cat-owl in my arms. It was breathing, but the damage to its wings made flying an impossible task. Just another item in Yun's long list of failures. She cradled the cat-owl to her chest, tears leaking out of her eyes. Remembering Yugoda's class and hoping it applied to cat-owls as well as humans, she took some water and began applying it to cat-owl's wings, hoping to accelerate healing. Cat-owl gave a weak mew before quieting again.

Then, they heard rumbling again. She saw the realization come to Sokka's and Yue's faces, but Katara still looked broken.

"I can't believe I lost him," Katara said softly.

"You did everything you could. You both did, and now we have to do everything we can to get him back," Sokka said.

"And Yun, you stay here too, with Momo and cat-owl-"

"No," Yun said fiercely. "I'm coming too. It's my fault he's gone. I'm going to help get him back." Yun placed cat-owl gently on the grass next to Momo. She vowed she would come back for it.

"You can't even stand up," Sokka exclaimed, throwing his hands up.

"I'm coming. Katara, please help me onto Appa. I just need a little time to adjust." Katara pulled one of Yun's arms over her shoulders and helped her up. They climbed up Appa, and with a "yip, yip" they were off to find Aang.

They followed the obvious deep trail in the snow, accounting for the weight of two people. But then the trail stopped. Sokka dismounted to find any clue, but when he turned to face them, Yun could see on his face that they had nothing to go off of. She thought back to the fight. She was useless. Her father would not have been proud of her then, as she stood frozen in fear, just as she had done six years ago. In the face of fire, she couldn't move. She hadn't made any progress at all. She was still the same eight year old girl, frozen in fear, trembling and waiting for someone to save her. She promised herself that next time she would face off against Zuko, she would beat him.

Yun noticed Katara looking around worriedly, and the others did too.

"Don't worry, Prince Zuko can't be getting far in this weather," Princess Yue assured her.

"I'm not worried that they'll get away in this weather. I'm worried they won't." Yun couldn't help but scoff.

"As if Zuko would travel all the way here, find a way into the inner sanctuary, and then let Aang die in a blizzard."

"Yun is right," Sokka said. "They're not going to die in this blizzard. If we know anything about Zuko, it's that he never gives up. They'll survive and we'll find them."

That's when Yun realized the darkening sky.

"The full moon is up. The waterbenders have the advantage again," she said, and she prayed for those fighting against the Fire Nation that this would be enough for a victory.

Katara gasped, her eyes following a bright light.

"That's gotta be Aang," she cried out, and then they were following that light.

They saw Zuko holding Aang outside of the cave. When Appa landed, Yun tried to get off of Appa, but as soon as she moved, black spots danced in front of her eyes, and she nearly passed out. By the time her vision had cleared, Katara had already taken care of Zuko, Sokka had cut the ropes that bound Aang, and Aang was bringing Zuko onto Appa.

"This makes a lot of sense. Let's bring the guy who's constantly trying to kill us," Sokka said sarcastically.

"For once, I agree with Sokka," whispered Yun, because saying anything louder made her want to puke.

"You okay," Aang asked.

"We'll talk about this later," she whispered.

And then the moon turned red.

Katara and Yun gasped, feeling as if something was missing from their bodies. Yun felt even more sick, finally vomiting over the side of Appa's saddle.

"Gross," Sokka complained.

Then Yue and Aang began to feel faint.

"The Moon Spirit is in trouble," Aang said, looking up at the red-painted sky and the blood red moon.

"I owe the Moon Spirit my life," Yue said, looking down at her hands.

"What do you mean," Sokka asked, leaning closer to her.

"I was born sick and very weak. Most babies cry when they're born. I was still as if I was asleep. Our healers did all they could, but nothing worked. They told my mother and father that I was going to die. My father pleaded with the spirits to save me. That night, on the full moon he brought me to the oasis and placed me in the pond. My dark hair turned white, and I opened my eyes and began to cry, and they knew I would live. That's why my mother named me Yue, for the moon."

When they landed, Yun saw Zhao holding a squirming bag. So there was the moon spirit. She got off with the others, but leaned on Appa to stay up right. However, she had two daggers she could throw and very basic waterbending so she wasn't completely useless. However, they dropped their weapons when they saw Zhao about to kill the moon spirit.

Aang was trying to reason with him while Zhao was spouting about how killing the Moon Spirit and destroying the Moon was his destiny.

"Destroying the Moon won't just hurt the Water Tribe. It will hurt everyone, including you," Aang said. "Without the Moon, everything would fall out of balance. You have no idea what kind of chaos that would unleash upon the world."

"He is right, Zhao."

"General Iroh, why am I not surprised to discover your treachery," he responded.

Yun looked over. That was the old guy who travelled with Zuko. What was he doing with Zhao? Then, General Iroh convinced Zhao to let the Moon Spirit go. As Zhao knelt to release the Moon Spirit into the pond, Yun was shocked. He didn't seem the type of person to back down like that. Then he unleashed his firebending on the pond and the moon went dark. General Iroh started attacking Zhao, but Yun could only look at the place where the moon was supposed to be, now just a pitch black sky.

General Iroh got rid of all the firebenders and gently picked up the Moon Spirit koi.

"There's no hope now," Princess Yue said tearfully. "It's over."

Yun couldn't help but feel the despair too, tears leaking out of the corner of her eyes.

Aang's eyes glowed and said, "No, it's not over." before walking into the pond. He faced the Ocean Spirit, and then its eyes started glowing too. All of a sudden, the Avatar was sucked into the pond. The water from the pond began to glow an electric blue, and Yun could feel the spiritual energy pulsing from it. It turned into this fish monster. Yun couldn't even begin to explain it.

General Iroh placed the Moon Spirit back into the water, but it was too late. It was already dead. His eyes then turned to Yue.

"You have been touched by the Moon Spirit. Some of its life is still within you."

"Yes, you're right," Yue agreed. "It gave me life. Maybe I can give it back."

"No," Sokka exclaimed. "You don't have to do that."

"It's my duty, Sokka."

"I won't let you! Your father told me to protect you."

"I have to do this."

She then gave up her life for the sake of the rest of the world. Yun watched her lifeless body fall into Sokka's arms; he clutched her close to his chest as he mourned for her. They all gasped in surprise when her body disappeared, and the Moon Spirit koi began to glow. General Iroh placed the koi back in the pond, where it began to swim. From the pond an apparition of Yue glided up.

"Goodbye Sokka. I'll always be with you." She kissed him before vanishing. As she disappeared, the moon came back, shining more brightly than it did before.

The Fire Nation evacuated, Zhao, Zuko, and General Iroh were nowhere to be found, and the rebuilding efforts started. Yun hung back, watching Sokka, Katara, and Aang stand together. Cradling cat-owl in her arms, she realized she didn't belong in that group, and she definitely couldn't stay. She couldn't be with them until she grew up. She had come to realize how much she relied on them for whenever trouble came her way, and she just couldn't do that anymore. She had to own up to her failures and take time to correct them. She had things to do that she needed to do for herself by herself. The first one was finding her parents. The second was learning waterbending. The third was finding someone who could teach her how to use her daggers properly. They were a gift from her father, and if she wanted to make him proud, she would need to know how to use them properly.

Appa came up to meet them, and Katara, Aang, and Sokka came up to her.

"We're going. Come on," Aang said.

"I'm not coming with you," Yun said.

"What do you mean," Sokka said. "We need to help Aang find an Earthbending teacher and help him master waterbending."

"I came to the North Pole to find my parents. That's what I'm going to do," she explained. "I also need to do some growing up before I can travel with you. I realized how useless I really was when it came to this battle-"

"No, it wasn't like that," Katara interrupted.

"Katara, let me finish," Yun said, aiming a weak smile at her. "It's just that I realized how much I relied on you, and I need to be able to stand on my own two feet. I need to learn waterbending, I need to find my parents, and I need to learn to stand my own ground. I can't have you guys fighting my battles for me."

"Well, we can help you search the North Pole using Appa, Katara can teach you waterbending, and . . . and. . . I just don't want to lose anymore people I care about," Sokka said, angrily wiping tears forming in his eyes.

Yun looked to Aang and found understanding.

"It's something you need to do," he simply said and Yun nodded.

"Then you gotta do it."

"I'll come back, I promise," Yun said, her voice firm with conviction.

"How will you find us," Aang asks.

"There's always a way," Yun replies with a smile.

"Good luck, Yun."

"Good luck, Aang."

Aang returned to Appa and let Katara and Sokka say goodbye. Katara placed her hand on Yun's shoulder, and then pulled her into a hug, carefully avoiding crushing the cat-owl.

"I'll miss not being the only girl," she joked.

"I'm sorry I'll have to put you through that," Yun laughs tearfully.

"I'll miss you, Yun. Come back to us soon."

"As soon as I can, Katara. I'll miss you too."

With that, the only one Yun had to say goodbye to was Sokka.

"Hey," Yun said.

"Hey," Sokka said back. He then groaned.

"Okay, here's the deal. I'll really miss you. Okay. Good talk."

"I'll really miss you too," Yun said, giggling slightly.

Sokka began walking away, but then circled back and hugged Yun.

"Come back soon . . . little sister."

Yun laughed in delight.

"I'll be sure to . . . big brother."

Sokka began walking to Appa while calling out, "Make sure you're less of a jerk when you come back."

"Same to you," Yun yelled back. She waved as Appa flew into the sky, and she kept waving until she couldn't see them anymore. She then turned around and looked around the Northern Water Tribe. Time to find her parents.


	7. Book 2 Chapter 1: Yun Alone

With Master Pakku gone to the South Pole, Yun learned the basics from his most advanced students. She learned all she could from them before turning to the books in the Northern Water Tribe's library. She hadn't been much of a reader before, getting impatient quickly. However, as she read more, she found so much information through different texts. She read from early morning to late afternoon and then went to look for her parents, while helping rebuild occasionally. During the invasion, '106, 6' was destroyed, leaving her with no clues. Yun decided that she would go methodically from house to house, seeing if she could recognize anyone from the Southern Islands. While her village wasn't the only one in the Southern Islands, it was the biggest and had trading connections with every other village on the island chain. She frequently accompanied her father on trading trips or diplomacy missions, so she could recognize quite a few faces. Unfortunately, she didn't see any familiar faces.

The only place left was the refugee camp, where thousands of people were housed as their homes were rebuilt. They were in the center of the city, but the problem was that they were housed in multiple buildings that made up the center of the city. Yun would have to scour each and every building. She made sure to do so every morning, early enough that people wouldn't have gone outside yet. However, each day that she searched, she lost hope.

She searched for her parents but kept up with her studies. She was interested in the similarities and differences between elements. She didn't want to have a typical waterbending style. First of all, it seemed she had no affinity to it whatsoever. Also, it was predictable. Learn the patterns of one waterbender, you have the patterns of all of them. One on fighting, there was the possibility that a firebender with his quick movements, would overwhelm the slower and flowing technique of a waterbender. An airbender could dispel long-ranged attacks and short range attacks would be useless, because of an airbender would rarely let a fight become close range. An earthbender could brute-force through any obstacle a waterbender could put up. For a firebender, she would have to develop a similarly offensive style to put him off balance. After all a good offense is the best defense. For an airbender, she would have to be able to forcibly make their fight a close-range one, and for earth benders . . . she had no idea. She would have to fight one first.

"Please spar with me," she requested a waterbender, one of Master Pakku's pupils. She wanted to test her short-range sparring abilities. A few minutes later, she was laying in the snow, thoroughly defeated.

"Do you want my advice," the waterbender asked tentatively.

"Yes please."

"Your feet aren't planted. It seems as if you want to rush forward, and that makes your stance unsteady."

"But what if I want to advance upon an opponent, be more offensive," Yun questioned, sitting up.

"Just make your range of attack longer," her opponent said, his tone of voice incredulous.

"I guess," Yun contemplated.

He just shook his head and walked off. Yun groaned and flopped on the ground. He was the thirteenth person she faced so far, and still no dice. She wasn't getting better. Sometimes, it felt like she was getting worse. However, she knew the current waterbending style wasn't working for her, so she had to try something new. She also knew that she couldn't stay here much longer. She knew in her heart her parents weren't here, but she wanted to check thoroughly.

The next day, early morning again, she went to check out the last building for refugees. The houses were still in the process of being built again, with not enough manpower to spare, with many of the waterbenders being used as healers for the wounded after the battle. Yun herself went to heal cat-owl, who was still weak. Everytime she would go though, she would hum a new tune, and let the cat-owl try to copy it. It was a new game they had between themselves. Yun still felt guilty for what happened to cat-owl, its burnt wings a constant reminder of her failure. She had to get stronger.

She walked into the building, scanning the sleeping bags before landing on a familiar face. Yun walked over to the sleeping bag and shook the person awake.

"Kula," she whispered, overjoyed. She had found someone not only from the Southern Island, but her village. "Kula, wake up. It's me, Yun."

Eyes fluttering awake, she looked up at Yun confused. She then sat straight up.

"Princess," she asked, shocked.

"Don't call me that," Yun said. Honestly, why did people call the chief's daughter a princess? Yun got why for Princess Yue, but she was the daughter of a village chief of a small village. Nothing compared to the Northern Water Tribe.

"Kula, where are my parents? Are they here," Yun whispered, not wanting to wake the other sleeping people in the building.

"Princess, I mean Yun. What are you doing here?"

"Answer my question first."  
"I. . . n-no. I'm the only one from the whole village here. They usually place people from the same area in the same housing area. For example, people from the Southern Earth Kingdom are placed together here so they have some form of unity. I lived in 106, 6, and I didn't have anyone from my village here. There were two other people from the Southern Islands here, but they left soon after they came here."

Aunt Wu was right. Yun's parents weren't here.

"Now answer my question, princess. What are you doing here," Kula asked. Yun studied her face. Kula had been one of the fisherwoman of the village. She would catch the fish, give them to her husband to cook, and she would sell the excess. She was always smiling. This war had taken a toll on her. Her wrinkles were more pronounced, and she just looked exhausted.

"I travelled with the Avatar. I came to the North Pole to find my parents. I will leave soon to continue my search," Yun said, already getting up in preparation to leave.

"You aren't going to stay," Kula asked, grief evident in her voice.

"No, I am not," Yun said, already walking out. She felt so angry. Her parents weren't here. Why had she spent a month here? She wanted to rage against the world for being so unfair. She missed her mother and father so much. As her anger continued to rise, she saw the broken wall of the Northern Water tribe. While she had been hurt by the war, others had as well. Her anger drained from her as quickly as it started. Maybe she couldn't find her parents now, but she could prevent other children from facing the same fate as her. She would put an end to the war first, and then search for her parents. She would help Aang face the Fire Nation. Yun felt better, having a purpose once more.

Packing up her things, she went to go fetch her cat-owl. She had set up residence in the tent that she, Katara, Sokka, and Aang had shared when they were all together in the North Pole. Now it was just her. She had stayed here too long. Whistling out a tune from a popular Northern Watertribe song, she smiled when she heard the attempt at a reply coming from her cat-owl. She still needed to name her cat-owl. Song. That worked.

"Song," Yun called out while holding a piece of seal jerky. The cat-owl fluttered onto her hand, immediately grabbing the seal jerky in its mouth and eating it. The cat-owl, Song, could flutter places, kind of like an arctic hen, but it would never fly properly again.

"Your name is now Song, okay?"

Song didn't reply. Honestly, the little asshole probably didn't care. Yun sighed. She let Song perch on her shoulder, and she grabbed the rest of her stuff before going to the Water Tribe chief.

Taking a knee in front of him, Yun said, "I need to leave soon. I just wanted to thank you for your hospitality and support. You didn't have to house or feed me but you did. You didn't have to open your library up to me but you did. For your generosity, I thank you, and I will be in your debt."

The chief stood over Yun, before lifting her up by the shoulders, careful not to jostle her cat-owl.

"You have stayed and helped rebuild this city. You have helped rebuild our walls. Most importantly, you were there with Yue during her final moments. I want to thank you for helping our nation and helping my daughter."

Yun wanted to point out that she didn't help his daughter, because she ended up sacrificing herself, but she felt that wasn't the point he was trying to make so she stayed silent.

"Here is something I would like to give you to help you on your journey. I felt your restless energy; I knew this day was coming soon."

He handed Yun a bag. Curious, she opened the bag, saw how much money was in there, quickly closed the back, and attempted to hand it back.

"Please, I do not need this much money, sir. I was already such a burden on you-."

"Let me give you something to show my thanks."

"Then let me take one scroll from your library."

"One scroll and half the money in the bag. That is my final offer."

Yun's shoulders slumped in defeat, and Song gave a defiant mewl when it almost fell off.

"Fine," she agreed, guilt creeping up her throat at the thought of taking so much money away from this nation.

The chief escorted her to the library so she could pick out a scroll. She picked out the she was not finished with yet- a biography of a man whose bending was influenced by creatures he met during his travels. She then reluctantly took the money before bowing to the chief. She then dropped her stuff and hugged him.

"Thank you for everything."

Hesitantly, he hugged back. Clearing his throat, he stepped back.

"There is a boat heading a trading port north of the Ruins of Taku. From there you can take a boat down to Ba Sing Se. Or you can take a caravan that while take you further west. You best leave now if you want to make it."

Yun picked up her stuff and walked out towards the docks. She knew where her next stop was - Shu Jing Village, to meet a certain weapons master.

Yun decided she liked travelling by boat, the gentle rocking of the boat putting her to sleep at night. During the day, she read the scroll given to her by the Water Tribe chief. It had some interesting stuff. This guy was a firebender, and he was able to make his fighting techniques resemble certain birds of prey, which somehow made his techniques quicker and more accurate, almost like an actual bird of prey honing in on its prey and flying in to strike. Fascinating stuff.

"Maybe, I'll make my attack look like you, Song," Yun said absentmindedly. Song just mewed, perched on top of her head, gripping her hair in its furry paws.

"The problem with this scroll, Song, is that it is extremely vague. Imagine the image of the creature you wish your attack to embody. Then mold your attack to look like that creature. Your attack will have the same characteristics of that creature. That's it! That's all I get. It doesn't say whether I need to know this creature personally, or if I need to observe any behavior. They make it seem so easy. Obviously it's not! Otherwise everyone would have done it! They just make it seem like I could pick any ludicrous animal I want. What if I wanted an ocean dragon. Like the ones papa used to warn me about. Go to bed little Yun, or the ocean dragon will gobble you up. You know what? I'm going to do it. I just gotta figure out what it looks like. I'm going to become an ocean dragon, Song!"

Yun then heard the slight hysterical edge of her voice and decided she needed a break. Honestly, reading still wasn't her thing. She much preferred pictures and stories. Papa used to tell the best stories.

Time to see if anyone aboard this ship has heard anything about an ocean dragon or might have a picture. Obviously, if Yun was going to have a creature-based move, it might as well be the most awesome sea creature ever.

Wandering the boat looking for crew members specifically, she suddenly appreciated Appa a lot more. This journey would take at least a month, with multiple pit stops to stock up on supplies. Appa could have done it in 2 weeks, no problem.

She went deeper down into the boat, asking different members of the crew if they knew anything about ocean dragons, but they either looked at her like she was crazy or told her to stop bothering them.

"Yer askin' about ocean dragons?"

Yun turned to see a old man sitting on a barrel, looking up from a book. There wasn't much light down here to be reading a book, but Yun just accepted it. She wasn't about to tell the man where to read and when. The amount of facial hair he had was impressive. It almost looked like Aang's disguise when they got past the gates of Omashu. Through the facial hair, she could see weathered skin and piercing blue eyes.

"Yeah, I'm really interested in learning more about them," Yun said.

"Well I've been researchin' them for da past forty years. I c'n tell you 'bout dem."

"Are you a professor," Yun asked, reaching down to pick up Song from her perch on Yun's shoulder and cradle it in her arms instead. She could tell she'd be here for a while.

"Nah, I'm a sailor. Encountered an ocean dragon on one a my travels forty years ago."

Yun's widened in shock. He had met one. When she said she wanted to know more about ocean dragons, she meant the mythology. Now she could learn from someone who has actually come face to face with one.

"It was the most terrifying experience o' my life," he continued. "But it puts yer place in this world in perspective, you feel me?"

It turns out the book he had in his hands was a journal of his experiences of the sea dragon as well as mythology and word of mouth from other people he encountered on their travels. The rest of the boat ride, she continued learning from this old sailor, Tigok.

Each night, she would go to bed, head full of information. She felt she knew enough about their behaviors. Now all she needed was a visual. She was sure she could do it.

The boat journey was about to come to an end, with only a day's worth of travel expected. She went to gather all of her belongings and went to see Tigok.

"I want to say that I'm grateful for all that you taught me while I was here. Your knowledge was invaluable. I don't have much to give, but if you can accept money, I can give that-"

"Geez," Tigok said. "I ain't takin' none of yer money. It'd be like stealin' money from a baby."

"Hey," Yun exclaimed, offended. She was a teeanger. In some parts of the world, she could be an adult. Maybe.

"Instead," Tigok continued, ignoring Yun. "I got a little thing for you." He held out his journal, the one he had all of his research on.

"No, no, no, I couldn't possible take that from you," Yun said, shaking her head and backing up. Song, almost displaced from its place on Yun's shoulder, mewed plaintively, before biting Yun's hair. Satisfied that it showed the appropriate amount of displeasure, Song settled down once again, asleep.

"Look, kid. I ain't gettin' any younger, you understand me? Yer the first one in years to actually pay attention to what I found. So continue my research for me, will ya?"

Yun took the book, holding it reverently. She ran her finger along the cover of the book and then the spine. She looked Tigok in the eye and nodded. She then bowed, careful not to dislodge Song.

Tigok laughed and asked, "Why're you bowin' to me?"

"You're helping me on my journey. Like a teacher. I need you to know how important that is to me," Yun replied. Tigok just patted her on her unoccupied shoulder roughly, and then went deeper into the ship, probably to help the rest of the crew prepare for docking.

Yun picked up her stuff, ready to find a caravan to take her west. She had another boat ride to get on. Her destination was Shu Jing Village in the Fire Nation.


	8. Book 2 Chapter 2: Shu Jing Village

After another few weeks of travelling west to the trading village where Yun, Sokka, Aang, and Katara were ambushed by pirates, Yun finally managed to catch a boat going to the village of Shu Jing. She would need some Fire Nation clothes, but she felt ready for the travel. She needed to see Master Piandao, an expert with weapons of all kinds, and learn how to use her daggers properly. She was determined to honor her father's gift.

When she arrived at Shu Jing village, she quickly went into a boutique and bought a typical Fire Nation outfit - a simple red sleeveless shirt, orange pants, and tall boots that ended with a pointy toe. It was certainly less clothing than Yun was used to. She then went to a hostel near the coast and walked up to the front desk.

"I'd like a room. I'll be staying for a month."

"Aren't you a little young to be traveling by yourself," the lady behind the counter asked.

"I have to stay here by myself for a month. My parents are still in the colonies and are preparing to move here."

"Ah," the lady said. "Well, here is your payment plan. Once that is settled, I can direct you to your room."

Yun used the rest of the money that the Northern Water Tribe chief had given her to pay for her room, and she walked up the stairs to her room. Immediately she went into the shower, not having had a proper shower in such a long time. She made tiny ocean dragons dance around her. She had gotten so much better at forming them since Tigok had given her his journal. It had such detailed drawings of the ocean dragons, she was able to accurately form them with water, but she could only hold it for five seconds. She hadn't been able to use her ability in combat, and she couldn't get them much bigger yet, but she was sure they would be useful, once she could make them bigger and make them last longer. As she prepared for bed, she decided she would search for Master Piandao tomorrow.

She woke with the sun well in the sky, shining bright light through the curtains of her window. Stretching until her back cracked, she got ready to find Master Piandao. Asking around the village for directions, she found out that he lived on a giant house on the hill. When she found it, her mouth gaped open in shock. That was a big house indeed. She walked up the hill and knocked on the gate.

A man, who Yun assumed to be the butler, opened the gate.

"How can I help you?"

"I need to meet with Master Piandao."

He raised one eyebrow incredulously.

"What did you bring to prove your worth," he asked.

"I have two daggers, crafted by a master metalsmith, and my skills."  
The butler sighed and gestured for Yun to follow him. They walked into a giant hall, and Master Piandao was there, facing his yard and meditating. The butler cleared his throat, and Master Piandao's head lifted but he did not turn around. Yun took a deep breath to calm her racing heart.

"I am Yun of the Southern Islands, and I have come to you, Master Piandao, to learn how to properly use the daggers my father has gifted me."

"And why have you, Yun of the Southern Islands, come to me, a swordmaster, to learn how to use daggers," he asked, still not facing Yun.

"I have it on good authority that you have commissioned daggers from my father. And why would a master need a weapon he wasn't planning on using?"

With this, he turned around and looked at Yun and his eyes widened.

"I have only commissioned daggers from one man. Are you Rei's daughter?"

"Yes, I am."

"Then why don't you learn from him. Your father was the one who taught me how to properly wield his daggers. He could teach you more than I could."

"My village was burned to the ground, and all its people scattered around the world or burned alive. I have not found my parents yet, and so that option has been taken from me."

"What makes you think that you are worthy enough to learn from me," Master Piandao asked Yun.

"I am not sure what else could display my worth other than showing you my skills," Yun said.

"Fine, come with me. I'll shall test your worth."

Yun followed Master Piandao into an open area. He took up his sword, and she unsheathed her daggers.

"Double daggers. How will you fight me short range when I have longer reach than you," he asked. He then leapt forward, his sword prepared to striked. Yun backed up, then went under the strike, planning on destabilizing him, then striking, with one of her daggers. However, she had to roll out of the way when she saw the butt of the sword coming towards her face. Pivoting, she aimed for his back, but wasn't fast enough. It was all she could do to block his sword with both her daggers, the force of which propelled her backwards. Growling in frustration, she backed up again, preparing for another attack, when she suddenly saw the sword coming straight for her. Bending backwards to avoid the attack, she didn't see Master Piandao shift his stance, and with one quick movement of his foot Yun was on the ground with a sword pointing at her throat. She attempted a scissor sweep, but the sword was pointing closer to her throat. Yun had to look cross eyed to see it. Reluctantly, she dropped her daggers and held up her hands. Master Piandao backed off, allowing Yun to get to her feet.

"Why do you need to know how to wield daggers if you are a waterbender," Master Piandao asked. Yun gaped.

"H-how did you know I was a waterbender," Yun asked incredulously.

"The way you move, it couldn't be more obvious. So tell me, why?"

Yun thought for a moment, unsure of how to word her desire correctly.

"I want to use my waterbending more aggressively, and if I learn how to properly wield my daggers, I can appreciate that style into my waterbending style. I also want to master how to fight with these daggers before I meet my father."

"And you aren't worried that I know you are a waterbender," Master Piandao questioned, sheathing his sword. "Waterbenders shouldn't be here. I could have you turned over to the Fire Nation."

"I learned from my father that you were an honorable man with pride in your craft. You teach students based not on their nationality but their skill and willingness to learn. I trust my father's word and I trust in your honor," Yun said, sheathing her daggers and standing up straight.

Master Piandao nodded.

"You will come here each day at sunrise starting tomorrow to begin your training. I do not tolerate tardiness or laziness."

Yun beamed.

"Thank you master," she said, bowing deeply.

"Now leave of my house. I have things to do."

Yun left Master Piandao's home, a skip in her step. She had found a master. Once she mastered this, she would find Aang, Katara, and Sokka again. Katara could help her with her waterbending, now that she had all the basics down. She could spar against Aang and Katara and try out different strategies. She had her long range attacks set once she got the Ocean Dragon attack, and would get her short range down once she mastered her daggers with Master Piandao. Things were looking up.

Since that day, Yun went every day to Master Piandao's. After the first week, she was training against his butler. She lost against him the first time they fought. However, after that, she had a pretty good list of his weaknesses. Planted feet, a heavy set frame which didn't allow for agility, and a reluctance to change stance. The next time they fought, she bested him thoroughly. Every round with the butler after that, she beat him more quickly than she did before. However, her matches with Master Piandao got longer and longer, but she ended up defeated every single time. Yun's favorite times with Master Piandao was when they went over strategy.

"I'd advise again only pursuing offense, when you use your daggers, and especially when you use waterbending. Balance is essential in everything you do. With waterbending, using only offensive movements goes against the very nature of the art form."

"Master, how do you know so much about waterbending," Yun asked, looking at him. He glanced at her and smiled.

"Everything I know about waterbending came from your mother," he said.

"You knew my mother as well," Yun exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yes, I grew up on the Southern Islands with them in fact."

He then went on to tell Yun about the adventures they had as children, and how her father and Master Piandao kept in contact even when he moved to Shun Jing Village. Yun was laughing at their childish antics.

"I can't believe my father was like that as a child but scolded me for the exact same things," she pouted.

"He probably didn't want you to grow up as a ruffian like he did," Master Piandao said with a smile. Clearing his throat, his face went stern again.

"Where was I? Right. You must maintain a balance of offense and defense. Remember to keep a solid stance when you attack. If you go forward, make sure that by the time you are ready to launch an attack, you are in a position where you cannot be moved. If you are in a position where you must participate in short-ranged attacks, you must maintain a stable stance, and attempt to destabilize your opponent."

Yun thought on this advice for a moment before nodding.

"That's the end of your lesson for today. Tomorrow is your last lesson, if I remember correctly."

"Yes," Yun said, nodding.

"What will you do from then," Master Piandao said, clearing the table of the scrolls they had used.

"I'm going to go back to assist the Avatar."

Master Piandao just hummed and turned his back on her, signaling the lesson was over. Yun bowed before she walked over to the doors of Master Piandao's house, where the butler was waiting for her. She suspected that he might be a little scared of her from the way that he flinched when she suddenly turned towards him. He walked her to the gate and hurriedly closed it as soon as she exited. She looked back at the giant house on the cliff. She would be sad to leave this place and Master Piandao. Maybe once the war was over, she would come back.

She walked back to her room, stoking Song's soft belly when she walked inside. Song had grown a little chubby since the time they came to Shun Jing Village. It did hang out in the lobby of the hotel a lot and Yun suspected that the lady behind the counter had taken quite a liking to it. Since Song couldn't fly, it wasn't getting the exercise it needed. She whistled a tune, and listened to Song attempt to hoot it out. Song still looked super cute, so Yun decided not to stress about it. Instead she listened to the sound of Song purring and felt content. She fell asleep to the sound of Song's rumbling purr.

She woke up early next morning. She packed up her stuff, knowing that when she returned from her lesson, she would have to head out as soon as possible to get a boat to Ba Sing Se.

"Bye, Song," she murmured to her sleeping pet, and gently ran her fingers on its head.

She attached her dagger sheaths to her hips and went towards Master Piandao's house one last time. When the butler showed her in, she saw Master Piandao already waiting in the open courtyard. Yun walked up and bowed before unsheathing her daggers and assuming her stance. Master Piandao unsheathed his sword and gave his sheath to the butler.

After a tense moment, they began circling. Master Piandao attacked first, going for a jab, and as she dodged, he swung. Yun had to go from a dodge to a roll to avoid getting cut. So Master Piandao was aiming for her to be defensive. Aiming a kick at his side and connecting, Yun got off the ground and resumed her stance again. She decided to go offensive. Yun swung one of her daggers in an arc, attempting to force him back. Anticipating a returning swing, she blocked with a sword and shifted her stance to her body was closer to Master Piandao's. Her remaining dagger, aimed for the throat, but was swiftly blocked by Master Piandao's remaining hand. Cursing, she leapt backwards, and they began to circle again. The pattern continued. They exchanged blows for a bit, sometimes Yun started it. Other times, Master Piandao started it. However, Master Piandao always ended it. Yun was beginning to breath heavily, and sweat dripped down her forehead.

"Getting tired already," Master Piandao asked.

"I can hear you panting as well, Master," Yun taunted.

With that, she ran in again, ducked under his extended sword, blocked it with one dagger and blocked his arm with her remaining arm. They were both open. Yun lifted a leg and aimed a kick to the side of Master Piandao's knee, causing one of his legs to buckle, with this distraction, she swept his leg out from underneath him, and followed him as he fell. She planted a foot on his sword arm and her knee on the other side of his body, so she was kneeling over him. She then placed one of her daggers at his throat, and the other one out, anticipating an attack from the other arms.

"Gottcha," she said breathlessly.

"Almost," he replied, smirking. "You forgot about my legs." With that, he swung his body around so his legs captured Yun's middle, while his non-sword arm grabbed her arm. He then scissor swept her, and she landed on her stomach, the air leaving her body.

Both her arms were grabbed and her daggers were dropped. Yun's arms were pulled behind her back, and Master Piandao's knee was planted on her back.

"I surrender," Yun gasped. She felt hands leave her back, and she got up, gasping for breath. When she did, she turned around to see Master Piandao having already sheathed his sword. He held out a hand for her to get up. She grabbed his offered hand and stood up. He looked at her with pride.

"You did well. You used what I taught you well. I am proud of you and I know your father would be too."

Yun bowed deeply to him, and then ran up and hugged him.

"Thank you for everything. I will never forget you or what you have done for me. Thank you for teaching me. I'll really miss you," Yun said earnestly.

Master Piandao returned the hug, chuckling warmly.

"We will meet again. Also you might want a disguise. There is a wanted poster out for you."

"What," Yun squawked.

"You were travelling with the Avatar, right? After Commander Zhao attacked the Northern Water Tribe, wanted posters were made for all those who travelled with the Avatar. Also, I suggest you go to Ba Sing Se if you want to find the Avatar. Rumours fly faster in big cities, and there are multiple boats going out from there. You'd probably hear a lot more there."

"I'll keep that in mind, Master Piandao. Thank you for telling me."

Yun walked down the path away from Master Piandao. She went to the inn she was staying at, gathered her stuff and Song, and headed out. She was ready to find Aang and the others.


	9. Book 2 Chapter 3: En Route To Ba Sing Se

Yun had to steal money from some people in the village, but they all looked rich and were probably vacationing, so she didn't feel too bad. She felt a little bad though. However, she got enough to afford a boat to the Full Moon Bay and then money to get on the ferry. Before she boarded the boat, she cut her hair short enough that looking at her, she would pass as a guy. She was delighted to feel that without all her hair, her head felt a lot lighter. The waist length curly hair was such a burden to take care of. Maybe she should go bald like Aang. Yun quickly decided that would draw more attention to her, so she decided not to. With her hair cut, she thought that she looked like a boy around Aang's age. She didn't mind, but she sure hoped that she was recognizable. She was sure Katara would recognize her, but Sokka definitely would not. She smiled at the thought of her friends as she boarded the boat.

The journey was quite long. They had to travel south around the area where Haru's village was before travelling east to where the ferry embarked. The journey itself took a full week, and by the end of it, Yun was basically vibrating with the need to see her friends. She wanted to be back with Aang, Katara, and Sokka. When the boat hit the docks of Full Moon Bay, she basically ran off.

However, when she saw the amount of people waiting for a ferry ride, she was worried. The crowd was so thick, she was having a hard time seeing where she should go to board the ferry. How was she going to make it to Ba Sing Se? There were so many refugees. She went up to the counter to get a ticket when the woman asked, "Passport?"

"What's a passport," Yun asked, tilting her head slightly in confusion.

The lady looked at her, a vein twitching on the side of her head. She pointed a finger at Yun and yelled, "Security!".

Yun promptly got kicked out of line. What was she supposed to do if she didn't have a passport? What even was a passport? She hadn't needed one of those before. Money was always good enough. One refugee who had watched the whole thing go down pulled her aside and unfurled a map.

"Look, if you're really desperate, look here. It's the Serpent's Pass. It's a narrow rock structure that runs from here to Ba Sing Se. Just don't start traveling expecting you'll make it out alive." Yun was desperate.

"I'll do it. Thank you for the information." She was about to leave, when his hand grabbed her wrist.

"Information isn't free. What are you going to give me for this info," he rasped. Yun found this fair and handed him a few coins. This enraged the refugee and he grabbed her by her collar.

"This isn't enough. You had enough money to pay for the ferry. Give me that much."

"That's a lot of money, though," Yun protested.

"Look, I have a child that I need to get to Ba Sing Se, but I don't have the money. You have the money, but you don't need the ticket. Just help me out." Yun thought about how many people helped her on her journey, even if she was undeserving of their help. She sighed and dropped the rest of her money in the guy's hand.

"Next time you ask for help, try to be less of an asshole about it," Yun advised, before freeing herself from the guy's grasp. "And since you took my money, it's only fair I get your map." Yun then walked off with the map without waiting for a response.

When she reached the Serpent's Pass, she saw the carvings 'Abandon Hope'. Yun gulped. What a way to set the mood, huh? She surveyed the food and water she had, and then looked at the pass.

"I think we'll be fine, Song."

She began climbing. It didn't seem that bad honestly. Just a little bit of up and down. Maybe it was bad near the end, or for old people with bad knees. Or maybe it was bad for young people with bad knees. Yun didn't discriminate. There were also parts of the path that weren't as steady as others, so Yun had to move slowly testing the path before putting her solid weight on it. She noticed Fire Nation boats passing through the bay, and she wondered why they were there. However, they didn't bother her. Yun guessed they didn't expect anyone to be on the Serpent's Pass. As she went over the Serpent's Pass, day slowly switched to night and she decided to set up camp. She didn't want to risk setting a fire in case it caught Fire Nation eyes, so she just set up her sleeping back and tucked herself and Song into it. She ate some food and fed some fish jerky to Song. As they settled down to sleep, Yun felt a cold wind dance over them.

"C-c-cold," she said, her teeth chattering. Song meowed before burrowing even closer to Yun. Before she had left the ferry, she had changed back into her Northern Water Tribe clothing. Even in the furs, she could still feel the bitter bite of the wind. It took her a long time to fall asleep that night.

She woke up the next morning with the sunrise. She packed her fur outer robe but kept the inner layers of her water tribe clothing, and she rolled up her sleeping bag. Perching Song on her shoulder again, she fed it some fish jerky again and they were on their way. However, she reached a problem when it came to a large patch of the pass that was missing. Feeling unwilling to swim all the way across, Yun sent a wave of ice across, forming an ice bridge of sorts. She began walking across it when she saw a shadow under her feet, serpent-like and fast. Stopping, she observed for a bit, before realizing why the Serpent's Pass got its name. Using the water to speed her across the ice, she almost made it before the Serpent burst up under the ice, and Yun was flung into the air. She managed to land on solid ground, but she was too dazed to stand up. When her vision was cleared, she heard the Serpent scream, and its giant head was rushing towards her.

Relying on instinct alone, Yun batted it away with a well timed water whip. While that meant she wasn't about to be eaten, it did serve to make the Serpent even more pissed off. It circled again, preparing for another strike. Yun pushed it away with a wave of water, buying herself some time. Yun scrambled to think of a solution. She didn't travel all around the world just to be eaten by a sea snake. She urged herself to think of a solution. She couldn't kill it. Firstly, she didn't have the power and secondly, it wasn't really fair to the Serpent. It was probably protecting its territory. Well, animals were scared of those bigger and more threatening than them. Yun had seen that many times, where predators would attack her, but be scared away by Appa. She decided it was time to make an Ocean Dragon.

She lifted her arms, summoning a tall blast of water, before she began molding, allowing water to circulate in mold of her specifications. She made the head, the eyes, the snout, the scales, the arch of the neck, the horns on its head. She then breathed life into it, letting it move in time with her hands, backwards and forwards, up and down. The serpent was watching that instead of her, waiting to strike. She directed her ocean dragon to grab the Serpent. Her Ocean Dragon opened its maw and grabbed hold of the Serpent. It started thrashing, and Yun could feel the toll of holding the Ocean Dragon form on her body. Yun then flicked her hand down, and her Ocean Dragon's head followed, pushing the Serpent underwater. After a few seconds of thrashing, she lifted her hand once more, letting the Serpent emerge to the surface once again. It let out a shriek before turning and swimming away. She waited a moment to see it would come back, but it didn't. Yun then released the Ocean Dragon that she had created, letting the mold go and the water to just splash back into the bay. Looking down at her shaking hands and legs, Yun realized how much of her energy that took. Obviously, she would have to downscale that if she ever wanted to fight with it. That was the last thought she had before blacking out.

She regained consciousness to Song biting at her hair and meowing frantically in her ear. She got up quickly, thinking the Serpent was back, but she then realized it was nighttime and Song was hungry. What a brat. She tiredly gave Song some fish jerky before feeding herself. She ate all the food she had left, trying to get some energy back in her body. She also drank some water and then decided to travel. The Moon illuminated her path, and she had wasted the day.

"Song, I did it. I made an actual ocean dragon."

Song meowed.

"I know, I can't believe it. It worked. Tigok's research helped me so much. I hope I get to meet him again someday and show him. I bet he would be amazed. Also, I think that the Serpent might be a sort of descendent of the Ocean Dragon. They have similar body shapes. Also the Unagi. I need to write this down once I reach Ba Sing Se."

Song rustled its feathers before settling down again. Yun saw the end of Serpent's Pass, and she was overjoyed.

"We reached it! We're going to Ba Sing Se, Song!" Yun felt confident that she would at least get a lead here on how to find Aang, Katara, and Sokka. She couldn't wait to see them again. It had been three and a half months since they had seen each other last. Maybe Aang had gotten taller. Maybe Katara had gotten more motherly. Or less motherly. Yun couldn't imagine Sokka changing. Yun hoped he hadn't changed.

She saw the sun coming up and unfurled the map, finally having enough light to see where the entrance to Ba Sing Se was. It was half a day's walk from the Serpent's Pass. She was almost there, almost to Ba Sing Se.


	10. Book 2 Chapter 4: Ba Sing Se

Yun arrived in customs, and realized she still didn't have a passport. When she reached the front of the line, she stood on her tiptoes, to properly see over the counter and said, "Um. . . I don't have a passport, so what should I do?"

The young lady behind the counter looked at Yun, her eyes wide with worry.

"Oh no, why are you alone at such a young age?" Yun purposefully made her eyes tear up.

"I got separated from my parents," Yun sniffed. "We got separated in the ferry. They had everything. I was only in charge of Song, our pet. Please help me." She felt a little bad for tricking such a nice lady, but she needed to get inside, and she still didn't know what a passport was and how to get one.

Just as the lady was about to say something, another lady dressed in light green came up.

"I'll handle it from here," she said through a smile, and grabbed by arm.

Stumbling behind her, Yun tried to ask where she was taking her, but the lady wouldn't reply. She didn't reply until they were on the train station platform.

"Hello Yun. My name is Joo Dee, and I will be taking you to where you will be staying." Yun backed up, waving her hands in front of her.

"Want to tell me what's happening first? I-I-I have so many questions. How do you know my name? Where are we going?"

"You travelled with the Avatar. We hear the Avatar will be coming to Ba Sing Se soon. We want him and his friends to be well taken care of to thank him for his service," Joo Dee said, still smiling. Yun really did not like that smile. It was obviously fake, and the unnatural persistence of it did nothing to ease Yun's tension.

"Do you know when he'll be coming," Yun asked, wondering how they knew Aang would be coming in the first place.

"In a few days. Wouldn't it be nice for him to arrive to see one of his friends already settled here," Joo Dee asked.

"I guess," Yun said hesitantly.

"Then follow me," Joo Dee said, starting to walk. Yun followed, Song meowing anxiously in her ear. Petting it, she noticed two men walking alongside them.

"Who are they," she asked Joo Dee.

"They are the Dai Li. They are the cultural protectors of the city."

"Why are they here," Yun asked, eyes darting from one side to the other, watching the two men.

"They are here to honor your presence in Ba Sing Se. The Earth King wants to show his appreciation for you."

Instead of heading into the city, they started heading to a lake.

"Are we taking the scenic route," Yun joked. Dread was starting to build in her gut; there was something very wrong and she needed to get out of here very quickly.

"I need to use the bathroom. Is there a bathroom nearby?"

No one answered. Yun was starting to get pissed off.

"Hey, answer me! Is there a bathroom nearby?"

Unflinching and silent, the Dai Li opened up a part of the lake.

"Let's get in Yun," Joo Dee said. "Isn't it so nice that the King invited us to Lake Laogai?"

"I thought I was going to a house, where Aang and the others would be staying."

"Get in," one of the agents said. Yun dropped her stuff, and gathered water around her.

"No way."

The Dai Li agents send earthen hands out towards her. She smashed them with a water whip, before pulling water from the lake to create a force to push the Dai Li into the lake. From the hole in the lake, more Dai Li agents came. Yun soon found herself surrounded. However, she wasn't going down there. If she did, she knew she would have a very small chance to come back up. Time to summon the Ocean Dragons. She summoned one, much smaller than the one she summoned against the serpent, which circled around her, before she flicked her hand out and then rotated it. Her water ocean dragon weaved through the Dai Li, throwing each one of them in the Lake. As more hands were thrown at her, she summoned another one which destroyed the hands. With the smallest wave of her hand, she was able to control them. They had more mobility than a mere water whip, almost a sort of sentience. They were able to weave, go in or go out, rear up or crash down. The only problem was how much energy they used. Yun could already see black spots forming in from of her eyes.

The more that she got rid of, the more agents replaced them. She knew she had to have taken out at least twenty if not thirty of them, but she still found herself surrounded. Yun knew she had to get out. Gathering the water from the lake, she tried to get up the cliff. She had made it about half the height before an earthen hand grabbed her ankle and brought her back to the earth. She cried out as she felt her hand broke her fall. It wasn't broken, but it sure wasn't fine either.

She felt more hands upon her, binding her hands behind her back, her ankles together, and one over her mouth. She was then carried down into the lake. She could feel herself trembling. The last time Yun was this scared, she had been faced down by Zuko. Even then, she didn't fear for her own life as much as she was scared of what would happen to Aang.

She was carried through multiple passage ways, all of which looked the same. She wasn't sure that even if she could escape them, she could find her way back to the surface. She was even more confused as to what she had done. Sure, she had tried to trick the customs lady, but surely that didn't warrant being thrown in a creepy underground prison. Even if that was her crime, why did they have to lie about it and say that she was going to meet her friends. Was that a lie too? Aang wasn't going to come to Ba Sing Se?

Yun could see Song being carried by one of the Dai Li agents, restrained by two hands. What would they do with it? That was _her_ pet.

Before she could worry anymore about Song however, she felt herself being frisked, her daggers being taken from her. Then, upon being released from the hands, Yun was thrown in a large cell. She cried out in pain as she broke her fall with the same hand that got hurt on the lake shore. She then heard a familiar grunt.

"Appa?" What was Appa doing here? Does that mean Aang was actually in Ba Sing Se? Why were they separated?

Yun was about to run up to Appa when two Dai Li agents cuffed her hands behind her back and chained that to the side wall. Even with the amount of give the chain had, she couldn't reach Appa.

"What is the meaning of this," she questioned, shaking with rage and fear. "How dare you imprison me and Appa! Wait till the Avatar hears about this. I can tell you he won't be happy!"

Then a man walked in. He was wearing different attire from the men who captured her, more ornate and embroidered.

"How feisty is our new guest. I am just preparing for the arrival of the Avatar by making some proper arrangements, that's all."

"Why do proper arrangements mean Appa and I get thrown in a dungeon," Yun asked, trying to search for answers.

"I believe the right words is . . . collateral. We have certain rules in this city that need to be obeyed. The problem with those with much power is that they believe the law is above them. That somehow they are an exception. I assure you that is not the case in the great city of Ba Sing Se."

"Why do you need two pieces of collateral?"

"While this beast is collateral for the Avatar, you are collateral for it." Yun shook her head in confusion.

"What do you mean I'm collateral for Appa? That doesn't make any sense. He is chained in a cell in a dungeon underneath a lake."

"This dumb beast likes to cause us all sorts of problems here. However, what we know is that he holds regard for his human companions. So whenever he misbehaves, we will take it out on you. That is much easier than trying to tame a 10 ton beast, you see? Even the dumbest of beasts can learn by association. Maybe finally, he'll behave. After all, there is only so many times you can starve a creature before it dies. And we definitely need this one alive. You, on the other hand, are slightly more disposable."

With that villain speech, he left along with the other Dai Li agents, leaving Appa and Yun alone in the cell.

"Hey Appa, remember me," Yun asked. She scooted as far as she could towards Appa. Appa craned his neck as close as he could to her and tried to lick her. His tongue just barely grazed her cheek.

Giggling, she said, "You do remember me, buddy! Oh you had no idea how much I missed you. Why are you away from Aang? What happened while I was gone?"

At the sound of Aang's name, Appa let out a heartbreaking whine, slumping on the ground.

"Yeah buddy. I feel the same way." Yun went back to the side wall and sat against it. How would she get out of this mess?

That evening, a meal was brought in for both Appa and Yun. However, when Appa heard the Dai Li come in, he roared and almost managed bite on of them. Another one he knocked into the wall with his head.

Villain guy walked in again, with his fancy braided hair and stupid facial hair.

"So he is still misbehaving. Why don't we show him what happens when his misbehaves."

Yun was released from the chain that bound her hands to the wall, but her hands and ankles were still cuffed together. Villain guy then proceeded to use her as a punching bag for what seemed like an eternity. In the beginning, Yun did not let sound escape except for an occasional grunt of pain, but by the end of it, she was crying so hard she was gasping for air. She had never felt pain like that before. She wanted to throw up, but she didn't even have enough food for her to do that. While it was happening, Appa was growling, pulling at his chains. He was confused.

When it was over, they rechained her to the wall and left them both without food. Appa was still making confused low sounds.

"I'm fine, Appa. It's okay," Yun whispered, trying to breath. She wasn't sure how much of this she could take, and it was only day one. There was one sky light, showing the sky. So they weren't under the lake in this section of the dungeon. If only she could remove her chains and Appa's, they could fly straight out of there.

The beating around happened for a few more days until Appa began to realize what was happening. He began behaving at mealtimes, but she could also see Appa's spirit dwindle after that as well. Around that time, Yun developed a fever, due to the cold air, lack of proper meals, and immense beat down of her physical and mental well being.

Shivering, she lay on the stone floor, not knowing how many days had passed. Maybe it was weeks or months. Then the hallucinations started. Sometimes she would see Aang, Katara, and Sokka. Other times she would see her parents.

"Mama, Papa, I'm here," she would call out to her parents, her voice hoarse from the fever.

"I love you, baby," her mother would reply back.

"I love you, my little frog-squirrel," her father would say with the biggest grin.

Sometimes she would see the villain guy, in his robes. In the back of her mind she knew he was a hallucination. He never bothered with them anymore. However, in her fevered mind, she didn't know that.

Standing up on shaking legs, she said, "Don't hurt Appa!"

He'd then disappear. Yun sunk to the ground.

"Don't worry Appa," she said deliriously. "I'll protect you."

Again, more time passed. Her fever worsened. More hallucinations.

"Don't hurt Appa."

More time passed.

"Don't hurt Appa."

The door opened. A blue masked figure walked in with two broadswords and headed straight towards Appa. Appa growled and rose to his full height. Yun blinked rapidly. Was this another dream? Then General Iroh walked in. This was definitely a dream. Then the blue masked figure took off his mask and he was Zuko? Someone with the same scar as Zuko. Yun knew Zuko was bald and this guy had hair, so they obviously weren't the same person. But still, she had to protect Appa. She promised him.

Then General Iroh then started to scold scar-boy on his lack of planning and preparation and forethought. At least that is what Yun heard through the ringing of her ears as she struggled to stand up. She was startled when Zuko dropped his swords and yelled. None of her hallucinations had yelled before.

"Don't hurt Appa," Yun said, her voice coming out as a wheeze. She was standing, but propped up against the wall, the shadows of the room hiding most of her. She then stepped forward.

"General Iroh," she rasped. "Why are you in my room? And who is that boy?"

Both people turned to look towards her.

"Oh no," General Iroh said, coming towards her. "How did you end up here from the North Pole?"

"Why would I be in the North Pole? I'm from the Southern Islands. Appa's allowed in my room, but I don't know what papa would say about you. And him. I've never had guys in my room before."

"Who is that, Uncle? And why is she talking about rooms? Why is she here?"

Yun had no idea what was going on, the hallucination fully taking over her mind. The only thing keeping her standing was Appa. She had to protect Appa. She didn't even notice her cuffs were off until she stepped forward and lost her balance, her hands instinctively coming forward to brace her fall. She was caught by General Iroh however.

She stepped away from General Iroh and began making her way to Appa.

"Appa, we need to get out of here," she whimpered. She was about clamber onto Appa to "yip, yip" when she remembered the chains on his feet. She looked down at his feet and all the chains were broken. She clapped her hands happily. She then remembered something. She began walking to the door before being stopped by the boy.

"Where are you going," he asked harshly, pushing her back.

"I need to get my cat-owl from my parents' room. Also, my daggers. They were a present from papa to me," Yun said. Obviously.

"Also, get out of my room," Yun said. She pushed him away lightly with her head.

"No boys allowed," she giggled.

"You're the girl from the Northern Water Tribe," the boy said, grabbing her arm.

Yun was starting to get annoyed.

"Let go, I need to go get my cat-owl, and you need to get out. I'm going to get angry on the count of three. One, two-"

She was interrupted by General Iroh walking towards her with a cage and a belt with sheaths on it.

"Those are mine," she said in wonder. When Song saw her, it started mewing frantically.

"Hiya, Song," she said, hugging the birdcage. Iroh placed the dagger belt around Yun's neck like a necklace.

"Zuko, help me get her on Appa."

"Where's Zuko," Yun asked, eyebrows furrowing. "I don't like him."

She felt herself settle on Appa. She had the birdcage in one arm, and she was holding onto Appa's fur with her other.

"Hold on tightly," General Iroh reminded her.

"Yip, yip," Yun said, because that is what you say when you are on Appa. Yun knew that. She then let out a weak "yay," as Appa lifted off, breaking right through the top of the cell. She let Appa do the flying. Everything hurt, but the fresh air cleared her head a little. She then noticed her friends surrounded by the Dai Li and villain guy and two walls. Seeing Appa was about to plow through the two walls, she braced herself as he flew full speed ahead. She then saw four remaining Dai Li agents on the cliffside and batted them off and into the lake with her Ocean Dragon. That was for everything that was done to her since she got to this wretched place.

Appa then landed in front of the villain guy. He picked him up by his foot and threw him into the lake. Yun cheered weakly. Her friends then all ran to Appa. She fell weakly to the ground on the other side.

Sokka spotted her first.

"Yun, Yun, what did they do to you? Were you in there with Appa? Katara, she has a fever."

They all rush over.

"Hi guys, I've been looking for you," Yun says before she passes out.

She woke up to see Katara and Sokka staring worriedly at her. She smiled weakly at them.

"Long time no see, huh?"

"You're awake," Katara exclaimed. "You were suffering from severe dehydration and an untreated fever. I did the best I could with what I had." Suddenly everyone rushed over to her. Yun struggled to sit up.

"Is Appa okay," she asked.

"Yeah," Aang confirmed. "Thanks for taking care of him."

"I didn't do anything," Yun admitted, hanging her head in shame. "I couldn't do anything."

"You endured with him. That was more than any of us did for him," Aang said firmly.

"We're going to tell the Earth King about Long Feng's plans. You stay here. We'll come back for you," Sokka said.

"No, I'm coming," Yun said, getting up. "I feel a lot better already." Sokka sighed and shoved food at Yun.

"Eat this first."

From the fight to enter the palace, Yun could tell how much each of her friends had grown. There was also that small earthbending girl. She was amazing. Yun would love to spar her sometime. Yun stayed on Appa, and Song stayed on Yun. Yun knew she was nowhere near ready to bend yet. She still felt remains of her fever in her system. However, she didn't want to be left behind. She stayed with Appa while Katara, Sokka, Aang, and the earthbender attempted to convince the Earth King of the Dai Li's plot. Yun couldn't believe that they Earth King didn't know there was a war going on.

Yun slid off Appa and they walked in. She bowed before getting back up.

"Your Majesty, I was held in an underground prison by the Dai Li and him," she said, pointing to Long Feng. "They captured me and Appa to control the Avatar."

"All lies," Long Feng protested, turning towards the Earth King.

Yun wanted to protest, but all of her bruises were healed by then. They hadn't hit her unless Appa misbehaved, and her marks from the handcuffs, Katara had already healed.

Sokka then said, "Wait, I can prove he's lying. Long Feng said he's never seen a Sky Bison before. Ask him to lift his robe."

"What," Long Feng said incredulously. "I'm not disrobing."  
Aang did it for him, sending a burst of air that forced Long Feng's robe up. The Earth King saw an imprint of a large set of teeth on him.

"Never met a sky bison, huh?"

"That happens to be a large birthmark," Long Feng refuted.

"Well, I suppose there is no way to prove where those marks came from," the Earth King said.

Appa then opened his mouth, showing off his teeth. It was pretty obvious that his teeth matched the imprints on Long Feng's leg.

"That pretty much proves it, but it doesn't prove this crazy conspiracy theory. Though I suppose this matter is worth looking into."

They took a train to the outer wall. Yun hadn't taken the train to the city, so she was amazed by the mechanisms, the interior, the view.

"This is amazing," she exclaims, looking at the view.

"May I ask where we are going," the king asked.

"Underneath Lake Laogai, you Kingliness," Sokka replied. Yun shivered, not wanting anything to do with that place anymore. She sat down next to Sokka, suddenly not too excited for the train ride. Sokka looked at her sadly, pulling her closer with an arm around her shoulders.

When they reached Lake Laogai, however, the prison was gone. Yun didn't know how to feel. That terrible place was sunk to the bottom of the lake, which she was happy about. However, the people who hurt her were going to get away with it, which she was definitely not happy about.

Then Katara and Aang came up with a plan to stop at the wall. What was at the wall? When they reached the wall, Yun gasped.

"What is that thing," she asked.

"It was a drill, made by the Fire Nation to break through the walls of Ba Sing Se," Sokka said grimly.

"I can't believe I never knew," the Earth King said. Long Feng then appeared.

"I can explain, Your Majesty. This is nothing more than . . . a construction project."

Yun snorted and asked, "Then why is there a Fire Nation symbol on it?" Long Feng's eyes narrowed at her.

"Well, it's imported of course. You know you can't trust domestic machinery."

After a pause, the Earth King said, "Dai Li, arrest Long Feng. I want him to stand trial for crimes against the Earth Kingdom."

As he was cuffed, Long Feng protested, "You can't arrest me. You all need me more than you know."

"Looks like Long Feng is long gone," Sokka joked. Yun laughed. That was a good one. It was an even better feeling to laugh. She hadn't done that in so long.

"You know, I really missed having someone to laugh at my jokes," Sokka said.

Back at the palace, Yun watched Sokka, Katara, Aang, and the earthbender, Toph, convince the Earth King to lend his support to invade the Fire Nation on the Day of Black Sun. Wow had she missed a lot.

She then found out that Long Feng had been intercepting mail and documents that concerned different residents of Ba Sing Se.

Aang had mail from a guru that could teach him how to control the Avatar state. Toph had a letter from her mother. Sokka and Katara had possible information about their father.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have anything for you."

"It's okay," Yun said, shrugging. "I didn't expect anything." Information about her parents would have been nice, but she was determined to look to the future.

They sat in a circle and discussed future plans.

"Where do we even start," Sokka asks.

"I hate to say it, but . . . we have to split up," Katara says.

"Split up," Aang asked. "We just found Appa and Yun and got the family back together, and now you want us to separate?"

"You have to meet this guru, Aang. If we're going to invade the Fire Nation, you have to be ready."

"Well, if I'm going to the Eastern Air Temple, Appa and I can drop you off at Chameleon Bay to meet your dad," Aang offered.

"Someone has to stay here with the Earth King and help him plan for the invasion. I guess that's me," Sokka said, getting to his feet.

"No Sokka, I know how badly you want to help Dad. _You_ go to Chameleon Bay, I'll stay here with the king."

"You are the . . . _nicest_ . . . sister ever," Sokka said, kissing Katara on the cheek, basically bouncing up and down in excitement.

Yun smiled. No matter how much they argued, they always had each others backs.

"I'll stay with Katara. I don't really know what is happening with the invasion plan, but once Katara catches me up, hopefully something from my travels can help us," Yun said.

Yun was standing to the side, watching Aang prepare Appa for travel, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Startled, Yun pivoted fast and backed up. She came face to face with Sokka, who held his hands up.

"Sorry, should have warned you first." Yun placed a hand over her quickly beating heart, willing it to calm down.

"No Sokka, you're good. What's up?"

"I just want to let you know that I'm really glad you're back. We all missed you." Yun was horrified to find tears forming in her eyes. She quickly closed the distance between them to hug him tightly.

"Not as much as I missed you guys."

They stepped back, Yun trying to inconspicuously wipe away her tears.

"Now I got two little sisters to boss around," Sokka said, grinning.

"As if I'd let you boss me around," Yun scoffed, punching him in the shoulder. Sokka winced, rubbing his shoulder.

"Stay safe, okay," he said.

"I should be saying that to you. See you soon, big brother," Yun said. She watched Sokka walk up to Aang and give him a noogie, ruining a moment between Aang and Katara. Yun winced. Sokka really had no tact when it came to romance. She then saw Katara hug Aang and kiss him on the cheek, and she raised her eyebrow. Well, that was new. What else had she missed?

She saw Toph, Aang, and Katara hug, before including Sokka in the hug as well.

"Yun, come into the hug," Aang called out.

"Come on, Yun, quickly," Katara said.

Laughing, Yun ran down the stairs and was pulled into the group embrace by Sokka and Aang. She really had missed them, and she would miss them again.

They all parted ways, Aang and Sokka on Appa, Toph going to the inner walls of Ba Sing Se, and Katara and Yun heading in the palace.

"You have _so_ much to catch me up on, Katara," Yun said.


	11. Book 2 Chapter 5: The Guru

Katara and Yun were seated on a bed, Katara catching Yun up on everything she missed.

"Zuko has a sister that's worse than he is? How is that possible," Yun asked, horrified.

"She has the persistence of Zuko and a cold ruthlessness too," Katara said. Yun shuddered.

Katara began again with her story. Yun realized how much they had gone through.

"There are more waterbenders in a swamp," Yun asked, her eyes wide.

"Yeah, they are called the Foggy Swamp Tribe. They showed Aang how the whole swamp was connected," Katara offered.

"There was a giant, homicidal, owl librarian? How do you guys even find yourselves in these situations," Yun exclaimed, throwing her hands up and then flopping on the bed. Katara lied down on the bed, facing her.

"Honestly, I wish we didn't find ourselves in those situations. It was because of that trip that Appa got taken by sandbenders."

"Poor Appa," Yun said softly.

"Speaking of Appa, do you want to talk about the whole . . ." Katara started speaking and then stopped, unsure of how to continue. Yun flipped over on the bed, so her back was facing Katara.

"I don't want to talk about it. Besides, I was hallucinating for most of the time I was in there I think. I don't even remember how we got out. All I remember was seeing you guys."

Katara put a hand on Yun's shoulder and pulled so Yun was flat on her back again, facing the ceiling.

"It's fine if you don't want to talk about it now. Just know it's an option. We have some time before we meet the king, so tell me about your travels."

Yun told her about her journey from the North Pole to crossing the Serpent's Pass to getting taken by Joo Dee.

"You meet a Joo Dee," Katara asked, astonished.

"Yeah! She was so creepy. She smiled all the time, even when she was leading me to the lake." Yun shuddered at the memory.

"It turns out that the Dai Li were brainwashing a bunch of women under the lake, and they all were Joo Dee," Katara whispered.

"That makes it even creepier," Yun whimpered. She was glad she wasn't brainwashed down there. At least, she hoped she wasn't brainwashed down there. She would never really know would she. She decided to keep quiet on that. No need to cause unnecessary panic. All Yun remembered was getting beat up and the pain that followed. The gasping for air, the cries for help.

After a moment of silence, Katara pushed herself up.

"Show me that dragon move you learned," she said. Yun looked around, and then back towards Katara.

"Indoors," she asked hesitantly. Katara nodded.

"It's not like we're going to be fighting each other. I just want to see it."

"That reminds me," Yun said. "I need to get one of those water containers you have."

"They have a lot of options if you just explore Ba Sing Se's markets a little while. For now take some from my water skin."

Yun drew out the water and molded it into the shape of a small Ocean Dragon about the length of her forearm. With flicks of her finger, she allowed it to dance around her and Katara, weaving around their bodies. Katara laughed in delight, watching the small water creation. Yun had to collapse it after a few moments though, breathing a little heavier.

"That's amazing Yun. How do you use it in combat?"

"It's larger, obviously," Yun explained. "When I use it in battle, it has a sort of sentience. It is able to track opponents without me doing much. Sometimes I need to redirect, but honestly not a lot. The only downfall is that it uses so much energy that if I use it for long periods of time, I just straight up pass out. So I use it to close the distance between an opponent and me, and then I mostly have to just use basics."

"It's still amazing," Katara said. She was about to say more when they heard a knock on the door.

"That's probably for us," Katara said, ready to head out. "I'll be explaining our plan, and after that, we should be able help the Earth Kingdom war generals with more plans. They are called the Council of Five."

At the war meeting, one of the generals was explaining their plan of attack when Momo leapt onto the war table and started batting pieces around. The sound woke up Song, who, before then, had been sleeping perched on Yun's shoulder. Song saw its old playmate and began play-fighting with Momo in the middle of the table.

"Or we could send in Song and Momo to do some damage," Katara laughed.

The general didn't look amused, merely using his earthbending to right the upturned pieces. Song glided back to Yun while Momo shrieked and ran back to Katara. He then saw Song and decided to move to Yun's other shoulder. Yun sighed. Two troublemakers were sitting on each of her shoulders. The general continued speaking.

"All we need is the Earth King's seal in order to execute the plan." He then sent the scrolls to Katara and Yun.

"I'll get these scrolls to him right away," Katara promised.

When they exited the war room, Katara turned to Yun.

"All that's left for today is turning these scrolls over to the Earth King. If you hurry you could catch the market stalls before they close and get yourself a water skin. Here's some money."

"I'll see you back at the apartment in a bit, right," Yun asked.

"Yup," Katara said.

Yun headed off to the market square with Song on her head. There were plenty of market stalls in a square formation, so potential buyers could walk around and see what they liked. Yun headed through the stalls, stopping at a pet stall. There were a few smaller bird hybrids cheeping in their cages. The merchant who ran the stall stopped them.

"You willing to sell that cat-owl? I'll pay you thirty silver coins."

"It's not for sale."

"It? You don't even know the gender of your pet?"

"No, how am I supposed to know," Yun asked, crossing her arms. Then the merchant physically plucked Song off of Yun's head and started turning it this way and that. Yun's heart was in her throat; she hadn't brought her daggers to the market and there was no visible water she could draw from. If that merchant took Song from her, she didn't know what she'd do. Luckily, Song was handed back to her.

"Your cat-owl's a girl. Also, I can't believe you let your pet get burned like that." Shaking his head, the merchant walked back into this stall. Song had climbed back onto her shoulder. Yun thought about that moment when Song's wings were burnt. It was all Yun's fault. Interrupting her thoughts, Song bit her hair and meowed impatiently.

"I got it, I got it," Yun chuckled. "You want to keep moving."

There wasn't time to keep thinking about the past. She needed to keep moving forward. She would keep Song safe from now on.

Yun kept moving through the stalls, looking at the bright and colorful things they had to offer. She stopped by a stall full of objects from the Northern Water Tribe. She could probably find a water skin here.

"Excuse me, mister," she addressed the stall merchant. "Do you have water skins?"

"You bet I do, young sir! Look at these," he bellowed as he presented different arrays of water skins.

Yun wanted to correct him on his misinterpretation of her gender, but then realized it really wasn't worth it. What did she really expect when she cut her hair short? She did really like to keep it short. The comforts of not having to take care of her hair greatly outweighed the cons of sometimes being mistaken for a boy. Besides, boys weren't that bad. Aang was okay. Sokka was okay, when he wasn't being bossy or overprotective.

"How much," she asked.

"That will be 15 silver coins," he yelled, so loudly that the sound reverberated through her skull. Why did he need to talk so loudly when she was right in front of him. Also, 15 silver coins? That was so much.

"Hey, buddy," Yun said. "Those skins sell in the North Pole for 5 silver coins. What's up with the price markup?"

"I gotta transport it here, don't I," he said, his voice now quieter than before, but also starting to edge on menacing. Yun crossed her arms and tried to look tough.

"Look, I'll give you 7 silver coins," Yun offered.

"7 silver coins. You gotta be joking with me," he said, looming above her. "I'll settle for 13 silver coins."

"Work with me buddy," Yun said. "I'll give you 10 silver coins for that water skin. It can't be worth more than that."

"12 silver coins or nothing, pal," the merchant growled.

"10 silver coins and 3 copper coins. It's my final deal or else I'm leaving. I thought I saw another water tribe stall around the corner.

"Give me 10 silver coins and 5 copper coins and we're good, friend. No need to go to another stall. I'm flexible here, you see."

"Deal," Yun smirked. She happily took three water skins and went to the apartment, filling it up on the way. She definitely felt less vulnerable with them on her person.

She let herself into the apartment and waited for Katara to come back. She didn't think taking a scroll to the king would take a lot of time, but maybe there was some sort of official process for it that she didn't know about. She really didn't know anything about bureaucracy. Honestly, she would rather clean out the sewers than have a job as a bureaucrat. From what she saw with her father, it was just long and tedious and boring. Nothing ever happened on time, and old people made the process worse.

She played with her little water dragons for a while before getting bored and tired. She decided to take a quick nap.

She dreamt of frollicking in the ocean with ocean dragons, swimming as gracefully as them, when suddenly a gigantic Momo plucked her out of the water. He opened his mouth, and Yun started screaming. She didn't want Momo to eat her!

Gasping, she woke up to find Momo's paw in her mouth. Spitting it out, she saw the lemur clearly agitated. She then saw Momo leap away and decided to go after him.

"There's no one else here," Sokka said. Yun was confused. Why were they back already?

"Why are you guys here," she asked, stepping out. "Katara is supposed to come back soon. We can all hang out together."

"Katara _is_ in trouble," Aang said, turning towards the door.

"What's happening," Yun asked. "Katara said she'd meet me here after dropping off the scroll with the King."

"The scroll never made it to the king," Toph said grimly.

"Oh no," Sokka said faintly.

"Wait," Toph said. "Someone's at the door." Yun froze. If Katara was in trouble, it was no stretch of the imagination to think that Aang was the one they were targeting.

Then there was a knock.

"Actually, I know who it is," Toph said. "It's an old friend of mine. Glad to see you're okay." She opened the door enough for Yun to see General Iroh at the door. What was he doing in Ba Sing Se?

"I need your help," he said.

Sokka and Aang screamed, Toph waved, and Yun asked, "What is he doing in Ba Sing Se?" That got her a confused look from General Iroh.

"You guys know each other," Aang asked Toph, pointing at General Iroh.

"I met him in the woods once and knocked him down. Then he gave me tea and some very good advice."

"May I come in," General Iroh asked, bowing.

Toph nodded and General Iroh stepped into their apartment. He turned towards the group.

"Princess Azula is here in Ba Sing Se," he said.

"Zuko's crazy sister is here," Yun asked, confused. General Iroh nodded.

"She must have Katara," Aang said.

"She has captured my nephew as well," General Iroh said.

"Then we'll work together to fight Azula and save Katara and Zuko."

"Woah there," Sokka interjected. "You lost me at 'Zuko'."

"I know how you must feel about my nephew, but believe me when I tell you there is good inside of him."

"'Good inside him' isn't enough. Why don't you come back when there is good outside him too," Sokka said flippantly.

"Katara's in trouble. All of Ba Sing Se is in trouble," Aang said.

"Sokka, we know General Iroh is a good person on the outside. Remember how he helped us at the North Pole," Yun said.

"Besides, working together is our best chance," Aang said. Sokka sighed and nodded.

"I brought someone along that might be able to help us," General Iroh said, walking back outside. Outside was a tied up Dai Li agent. Toph quickly encased him in stone, with only his head peaking through.

"Azula and Long Feng are planning a coup. They're going to overthrow the Earth King," he said, terrified.

"My sister," Sokka said, swinging his club at the Dai Li agent. "Where are they keeping Katara?"

"In the crystal catacombs of Old Ba Sing Se. Deep beneath the palace."

The group set off running.

"He was a lot more loose lipped than I expected," Yun remarked. "I thought we'd have to scare him a bit more."

When they reached the area in front of the palace, Toph knelt down and felt the ground.

"Well, what do ya know, there _is_ an ancient city down there. But it's deep."

"We should split up. Aang, you go with Iroh to look for Katara and the angry jerk, no offense," Sokka said, looking at General Iroh.

"None taken," General Iroh said, shaking his head graciously.

"And I'll go with Toph and Yun to warn the Earth King about Azula's coup," Sokka continued.

Sokka, Toph, and Yun went up the stairs, when he remarked, "There's General How!"

Yun noticed the Dai Li agents on the columns and pulled both Sokka and Toph behind one of the unoccupied ones. She put a hand on her lips. She then saw the Dai Li handcuff General How.

"What's going on here," he asked, clearly enraged.

"You're under house arrest."

The coup had started, and they had to hurry. Sokka, Toph, and Yun ran into the throne room.

"Thank goodness we made it in time."

"In time for what," the Earth King asked.

"Yeah, what are you in time for," asked one of the Kiyoshi warriors. Yun was confused. She didn't recognize either of the warriors present. Neither of them came from Kiyoshi Island. This was going to be troublesome.

The pseudo-warrior flipped in front of Sokka.

"Um, I'm kinda involved with Suki," Sokka said when she leaned it too close. What, Sokka was dating Suki? Why was this the first time Yun was hearing about this? Suki was _her_ friend first.

"Who," the fake Kiyoshi warrior had time to ask, before Toph earthbended a rock column which pushed her away.

"They aren't Kiyoshi warriors," Yun said. "I've never even seen them on the island."

"What," the Earth King asked, perplexed.

"Sorry to disappoint you," the other one said, throwing her knives. Yun summoned water and caught the knives, throwing them back, before releasing her Ocean Dragon towards her. She dodged its first lunge, but got thrown forward when it circled around and struck her back. Toph was running towards the Earth King when the one who Yun assumed to be Azula stepped forward. She had a blue flame pointed towards the Earth King's throat.

"This fight is over," she declared.

Yun, Toph, and Sokka put their hands up in surrender. Their pressure points were hit, and they all fell like puppets with their stings cut.

"Get them all out of my sight," Azula ordered.

"What are we going to do," Yun asked, sitting in a metal cell with the Earth King, Sokka, and Toph. She rotated her limbs, getting feeling back in them slowly. Sokka was looking out of the small, barred window.

"Do you see any Dai Li agents nearby," Toph asked.

"Nope, all clear," Sokka said after looking around.

Toph then put her hands on the door and crumpled the metal door and threw it. Yun's jaw dropped.

"Toph," she said breathlessly. "You are the coolest person I know."

"You know what," Toph said. "I like you."

Yun beamed as they ran. They ran back to the throne room, because the Earth King couldn't leave his bear.

When they got to the throne room, Toph managed to restrain one of Azula's friends, while the other one just let them go.

"Do you want to spar against me some time," Yun asked Toph.

"Let's talk about this when we aren't running for our lives," Sokka suggested.

"I have to go back to the apartment. Song is there," Yun said, running towards their apartment. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

"I'm going too," Sokka said.

"No stay here. We need to be there when Aang and Katara come out. It'll only be a few minutes." Then, Yun took off running. Weaving past residents, she rushed to open the apartment when she saw Dai Li agents surrounding the apartment. Using all the water in her skin, she took them all out, summoning three dragons. She controlled their movements from afar, her fingers directing lines of attack. When the last of them dropped, she burst into the apartment, cradled Song in her arms and ran back. Song was mewing in her arms, confused and scared, but she couldn't stop running. Using the ocean dragons hadn't helped either, and Yun was fighting against the black spots against her eyes. Running up the stairs, she saw Katara carrying Aang. Yun's heart dropped. He was so still, and she could see the burn mark on his back. Was he . . .? Yun couldn't even think the word.

"Come on, Yun. We need to get out of here now," Sokka yelled. Yun ran and grabbed his outstretched hand. He pulled her onto Appa's back, and they were off.

They had been flying for a while before Katara took out the spirit water from the Oasis to heal Aang. After a few heart stopping moments, his eyes fluttered open. He only stayed awake for a bit before closing his eyes again, but Yun could see the rise and fall of his chest.

"What now," she whispered to Sokka while holding onto Toph's arm who sat on her other side.

"I don't know," Sokka said despairingly.

A single tear fell down Yun's cheek.


	12. Book 3 Chapter 1: The Awakening

Yun turned around to a commotion under the deck. Aang burst out onto deck, attempting to open his glider. She mentally facepalmed. Of course he would be freaked out, waking up on a Fire Nation ship.

"Twinkle toes, that's gotta be you," Toph cried out excitedly.

They all ran towards Aang.

"Aang, you're awake," Katara exclaimed.

"Are you sure, because I think I might be dreaming," Aang said blearily, rubbing his eyes.

Katara rushed in to hug him and said, "You're not dreaming. You're finally awake."

"Aang, good to see you back with the living, buddy," Sokka said, his voice tinny underneath his Fire Nation helmet. Yun punched his shoulder.

"Take off the helmet, idiot," she said.

"Sokka," Aang asked, confused.

He then fainted again.

"Sokka, you made him pass out again," Yun said, shaking her head. Katara was holding Aang, half of his body in her lap.

"Yeah, geez Sokka," Toph said, shaking her head as well.

"I didn't mean to," he protested throwing his hands up. He still had the helmet on. Appa had come onto the deck to check up on his Avatar. Yun stood up and stroked Appa's fur. She looked into one of his eyes and said, "Don't you worry, Appa. Aang was just feeling a little overwhelmed. He'll wake up in no time."

Appa turned to look at Yun, licked her, and then turned to look at Aang once more. Ever since Ba Sing Se, Appa and Yun had become closer. Nothing like imprisonment to bring a person-bison duo together. Whenever Yun had flashbacks to the beatings she had gotten under Lake Laogai, she would go to where Appa was and sleep next to him.

It was about an hour before Aang woke up again.

Sokka, Toph, and Yun walked away from Katara and Aang to give them some privacy and to give Katara some space to explain what had happened in the past few weeks.

"So," Toph drawled. "Katara and Aang, are they a thing?"

They were leaning on the railings on the deck, looking out at the ocean. Yun was making Ocean Dragons swim alongside them, going in and out of the water at a rhythmic pace.

"Maybe," Yun said. "Katara did kiss Aang's cheek before he was about to leave Ba Sing Se, and they always save each other, and Aang has liked Katara for forever. So maybe."

"Maybe let's not talk about my sister's love life. Gross," Sokka said, his eyes following Yun's Ocean Dragon. Seeing the black spots in front of her eyes, Yun let the dragon collapse back into water. She definitely had held it longer than last time.

"I just want them to be happy," Yun said, sighing into her palm.

"What would you know about relationships," Sokka teased. "I bet you've never even kissed anyone." Yun raised her eyebrow.

"Wanna bet again," Yun challenged him.

"What," Sokka squawked. "But you never said anything?"

"Maybe because talking about kissing with your older brother is kinda gross," Yun reasoned.

"Just tell me if it is someone I know," Sokka said. "I'm curious."

"Suki."

"You kissed my girlfriend," Sokka yelled.

"Before she was your girlfriend. She was my first and only kiss and it was when I was twelve, okay?"

"B-b-but, my girlfriend," Sokka sputtered.

"So, Toph, help me change the subject," Yun said, purposefully turning to Toph now that she had broken Sokka. Toph whistled.

"Your brother's girlfriend, huh?'

"Toph," Yun warned.

"Fine, fine."

When Aang felt physically better, Sokka explained what happened and what the game plan was from here on out.

"We won't mount a massive invasion without the Earth Kingdom's armies, but the solar eclipse will still leave the Fire Nation vulnerable," Hakoda, Katara's and Sokka's father, explained.

"We're planning a smaller invasion," Sokka interjected. "A ragtag team of our allies from the Earth Kingdom. We already ran into Pipsqueak and The Duke. And the best part is, the eclipse isn't even our biggest advantage."

Sokka's voice then dropped to an exaggerated whisper.

"We have a secret." He then turned to look both ways before continuing. "You."

"Me," Aang asked, befuddled.

"Yep, the whole world thinks you're dead. Isn't that great?"

Yun mentally facepalmed. Sokka really had no tact at all. Aang started freaking out.

"The world thinks I'm dead? How is that good news? That's terrible."

"No, it's great. The Fire Nation won't be hunting us anymore, and even better, won't be expecting you on the day of Black Sun."

Aang was in the middle of telling Sokka how messed up that was, when an incoming Fire Nation battleship sounded its horn. Aang had to get off the deck, now.

"I'll handle this," Aang said. "The Avatar is back."

Yun could see how much effort even unfolding his glider took. He was sweating by the time he prepared himself to fly.

"Aang, don't," Yun warned. "They don't know we aren't Fire Nation. You need to get off the deck. Let us handle this."

Aang reluctantly folded his glider back up. Sweat poured down his face. Even standing was hard for him at the moment.

"Everyone, stay calm," Hakoda said, putting on his helmet. "Bato and I will take care of this."

Appa was covered with a tarp, and Aang was hidden.

"I hate not being able to do anything," he whispered.

"Hopefully, you won't _need_ to," Toph said.

Yun felt the ship slow to a halt, before Hakoda and Bato began talking with the ship captain of the other ship. The captain had boarded their ship and was talking to Hakoda about why their commanding officer hadn't warned him about them going the opposite direction than they were supposed too. The conversation seemed to go on forever, but Yun relaxed when she heard the loud footsteps of Fire Nation boots fade away. She thought it had gone well until Toph burst out, declaring, "They know!"

With some awesome metalbending, she threw the captain and his two guards into the ocean. Unfortunately, that meant the other ship was on high alert and ready to attack them.

Katara used her waterbending to push the other ship away while Yun used her waterbending to push their ship forward faster. She saw the other ship in pursuit of them.

"Look out," she called out as a flaming boulder was launched at them. It hit the side of their ship, knocked everyone on deck off balance.

"Load the Toph," Toph yelled out, taking her stance, both arms out prepared to launch a projectile. Pipsqueak placed a rock boulder in front of her, and Toph molded it into a disk, which she shot at the enemy Fire Nation catapult.

Then the enemy Fire Nation ship caused a leak into the lower parts of the ship where their supplies were. Yun breathed out and down, covering the hole with ice. They would deal with the water inside the ship later.

Katara provided some cover, encasing the whole area with a thick layer of fog. However, even with that, another flaming boulder came in and destroyed all of their boulder ammunition.

"How we doin," The Duke asked, as the fog cleared up.

"Things couldn't get much worse," Sokka said, right as the Serpent reared up right behind him.

"The universe just loves proving me wrong, doesn't it," Sokka remarked.

"You make it too easy," Toph and Yun said at the same time, Toph semi-gleeful and Yun panicked.

Right at that moment, another flaming boulder was launched, but instead of hitting their ship, it hit the Serpent in the face. Enraged, the Serpent recoiled from the blow before rushing to the enemy ship and wrapping it up in its body. The pressure from its coiling around the enemy Fire Nation ship caused visible deformation around the body of the ship. Not willing to take chances, Yun urged the water to push them faster away.

When they docked, Yun went down to survey the damage. She bent as much water as she could into a giant ball from the interior of the ship, walked up to the deck and tossed it overboard. She went down and did it over again until the supply area was dry. By the time she was done, she was sweating. She walked up to Toph, but before she opened her mouth to speak, her stomach gave a vicious growl. Toph giggled.

"Let's go get the rest of the group and go get some dinner." They found Sokka looking over the damages and Katara hovering in front of Aang's door. Yun put a hand on Katara's shoulder.

"Maybe if we asked in a group, he would feel more inclined to come," she offered. Katara took a deep breath before nodding and opening the door.

"Hey Aang," Toph said. "We're going into town to find dinner."

"Well, I am pretty hungry. Maybe dinner's a good idea," he said.

"Here, tie this around your head. It'll cover your arrow," Sokka said, offering him a band.

"I'm not going out if I can't wear my arrow proudly," Aang protested before lying back down with his back to the group.

"Aang, come on. Be practical," Sokka said.

"You guys go without us. We'll catch up with you," Katara offered. Sokka and Yun traded looks, before they left, Yun leading Toph with them.

Sokka, Yun, and Toph waited on the deck for Katara. They saw her burst out onto the deck.

"Aang's gone," she cried out. "His glider's gone too."

Sokka and Yun looked at each other, shocked. How did they not see him leave?

"Where could he have gone," Toph asked.

Yun ran to get Appa.

"Appa," she said, shakily stroking his head. "Aang's missing. We have to go get him. He might be in trouble." She led him onto the deck where she saw Sokka and Toph waiting while Katara hugged her father. Yun was glad that Katara made up with her father, but they had to go.

She climbed onto Appa before gesturing to the others to come quickly. They all got on Appa's saddle, holding on tightly. Momo flew in carrying Song, and they perched on Appa's body.

"Yip, yip," Yun said. "Let's go find Aang, buddy."

They started riding when it began to rain heavily. Yun squinted, barely able to see in front of her, but Appa continued forwards. The raindrops stung Yun's skin, and she could tell the others on Appa's back were having a hard time holding on. She knew that Song and Momo were also a few seconds from getting buffeted away as well.

"Sokka, switch places with me," Yun said. With some careful maneuvering, they managed, and Yun looked at Katara. Together, they were able to redirect the rain, forming a bubble of reprieve from the storm. Still, Appa kept flying.

Yun and Katara kept up the bubble, moving the water up and over them, until the storm calmed down and the rains stopped. It began to clear enough for them to see where they were.

"Avatar Roku's island," Sokka said. Yun recognized the island from when they had come there before. The volcano that had buried Avatar Roku's temple was still leaking lava, which ran hot red into the ocean below.

They all landed on the island where Aang lay still on his back. Katara ran ahead of them, falling to her knees and hugging Aang close.

"You're okay," she said, her voice full of relief.

Sokka, Toph, and Yun reached them and they all fell in for a big hug. Appa joined in, resting his big head on the group, while Momo and Song perched right on top of the group. They all laughed wetly, all of them slightly hysterical with the relief of being together. When the split apart again, Aang looked at the ground.

"I have so much to do," he said, his voice hoarse.

"I know, but you'll have our help," Katara said firmly.

"You didn't think you could get out of training by coming to the Fire Nation, did you," Toph asked teasingly. Aang briefly smiled, before it dropped.

"What about the invasion," he asked, turning to Sokka.

"We'll join up with the invasion force on the day of the eclipse," Sokka explained.

Toph then interjected with a "Hey, what's this?" Yun gasped.

"Your glider," she said, turning to Aang.

"That's okay," Aang said. "If someone saw it, it would give away my identity. It's better for now that no one knows I'm alive."

Turning, he leapt up to a rock and looked at the lava flowing. Yun could feel his indecision, but he then held his glider high and plunged it into the lava flow. He then got off the rock and went towards Appa. Yun stayed back and watched the glider catch aflame. There would not be a day that went by without Yun being impressed by Aang's bravery.

"Yun, come on," Aang called out, already seated on Appa.

"Coming," she called out, running towards the group.


	13. Book 3 Chapter 2: The Headband

They had decided to stay on an island near Shu Jing Village. Yun could tell Sokka was feeling antsy about living in 'enemy territory'.

"Well, this is how we'll be living until the invasion begins. Hiding in cave after cave . . . after cave . . . after cave," Sokka said, hanging his head. Obviously the idea didn't sit well with him. The idea didn't sit well for any of them.

"We are not going to become cave people," Yun said, crossing her arms.

"We just need new clothes," Katara reasoned.

"Yeah, blending in is better than hiding out," Aang agreed. "If we get Fire Nation disguises, we'll be as safe as we would be hiding in a cave."

"Plus, they have real food out there," Toph said wryly, already having made herself comfortable on the ground. "Does anyone wanna sit in the dirt and eat cave-hoppers?"

Just then, Momo grabbed a cave-hopper and began gnawing on it.

"Apparently Momo does," Yun said, laughing.

"Looks like we got outvoted, sport," Sokka said mournfully to Momo. That made Yun laugh harder.

They didn't have money so their options were a little limited. They found a laundry house, where all the clothes were hung outside to be steamed.

"I don't know about this," Aang said hesitantly. "These clothes belong to someone."

"I call the silk robe," Katara called out excitedly, rushing over to grab it.

"But if it's essential to our survival, then I call the suit," Aang reasoned before rushing out as well.

Yun was looking through all the clothing, and much to her frustration, every top in her size had its midriff bared. This certainly wasn't the case in the boutique that she went to last time she was in Shu Jing Village. Sighing in defeat, she pulled one of the tops on and a baggy pair of pants that went up to her mid calf. She didn't like showing more skin that she was used to, but the heat was overwhelming enough that the outfit wasn't impractical. At least, she had her neck covered; that was a win in the game of modesty. The top was sleeveless and buttoned down, ending right under her ribs. The pants hung low on her waist, but they didn't hinder her motion, so that was another win.

"Let's explore the city," Yun said, noticing the architecture in this village was much different from Shu Jing.

"I used to visit my friend Kuzon here 100 years ago," Aang said. "So everyone, follow my lead and stay cool. Or as they say in the Fire Nation, 'Stay flaming.'"

Yun was almost one-hundred percent sure they didn't say that anymore, but she decided to wait and see how this played out. Aang swaggered out from their hiding spot, walking over to a man before saying, "Greetings, my good hotman."

When Yun saw how confused the man was, she knew that Aang's slang was indeed 100 years old. No one said stuff like that anymore.

Hungry, they decided to look for somewhere to eat.

"Oh, we're going to a meat place," Aang asked, queasily.

"Come on, Aang, everyone here eats meat. Even the meat," Sokka said. They all turned to a hippo-cow ripping into hunks of meat.

"You guys go ahead," Aang said. "I'll just get some lettuce out of the garbage."

Yun felt bad for leaving him out, but she was so hungry that she just went inside with the others.

When they came back outside, Aang was nowhere to be found. Katara started freaking out right away.

"What if he was found out already," she worried, pacing back and forth in their cave.

"Relax," Sokka said, while picking at his teeth. "Everyone thinks he's dead. No one's looking for him."

"I bet he went exploring," Yun said. "He did come here with his friend, so maybe he wanted to see what changed. Or maybe he's still looking for lettuce in the garbage."

Sure enough, a few hours later, Aang was back, his clothes splattered with mud.

"Where were you, Aang? We were worried sick," Katara scolded.

"I got invited to play with some kids after school," Aang said. Sokka shot up.

"After what," Sokka shrieked.

"I enrolled in a Fire Nation school and I'm going back tomorrow."

"Enrolled in _what_," Sokka asked again, before falling back to the ground in a cloud of dust.

When Sokka came to again, they all sat in a circle to discuss the idea.

"I'm trying to be mature and not immediately shoot down your idea, but it sounds pretty terrible," Sokka said.

"Yeah, we got our outfits. What do you need to go to school for," Toph asked.

"I've heard school is terrible, and people usually don't want to go," Yun reasoned.

"Every minute I'm in that classroom, I'm learning more about the Fire Nation. I already have a picture of Fire Lord Ozai. And here's one I made out of noodles."

"Wait, they have noodle art in school," Yun asked, suddenly wanting to go to school as well.

"I still think it's too dangerous," Sokka said, crossing his arms.

"I guess we'll never find out about the secret river then," Aang said, sighing dejectedly. "It goes right to the Fire Lord's palace. We're supposed to learn about it in class tomorrow."

Sokka rested his chin on his hands, contemplating.

"I _am_ a fan of secret rivers." He then contemplated some more befores saying, "Fine, let's stay a few more days."

"Flamey-o, hotman," Aang hooted in victory, before running to the back of the cave.

"I'm pretty sure you just got conned," Yun said to Sokka.

"Why do you think that," Sokka asked, turning quickly to Yun.

"A secret river that goes right to the Fire Lord's palace? That sounds like a state secret or something. Why would they be teaching some children about that?"

"Yup, he played you, Sokka," Toph agreed.

"What," Sokka shrieked, looking rapidly between Yun and Toph. "Then why didn't you say anything?"

"He seemed so happy though. I didn't want to be the one that took that away from him. Especially after . . . everything," Yun said.

They were all silent after that.

"Why don't we just let Aang go to school? I'm sure nothing terrible can happen," Katara said.

Aang came in that day after school with his head hanging low.

"The school wants me to bring my parents after school," he said, kicking at the cave floor.

The rest of them gasped.

"What did you do," Yun demanded.

"It was the other guy's fault," Aang defended himself.

"How are we going to get parents for Aang," Katara asked.

"Someone's going to have to dress up," Toph said.

"Well it can't be me," Yun said. "I'm only a little taller than Aang, and I also kinda look like a boy." Yun still had her short hair, considering it a time-saver. She really did not like taking care of her long hair.

"You don't look like a boy," Katara said. "You look like a fine young lady."

"Emphasis on young," Sokka snickered. Yun glared at him and stuck her tongue out.

"Face it, you and Sokka are going to have to pull this off," Toph said. Katara groaned.

Toph and Yun watched Sokka, Katara, and Aang walk off towards the Fire Nation school. A giggle burst out of Yun. Soon she was rolling on the floor laughing. When she stopped, she remembered Sokka's facial hair, and Katara with her roll of clothes stuffed under a dress and she started laughing again.

When Aang, Katara, and Sokka came back, Sokka looked sternly at Aang.

"That's it. No more school for you, young man," he said, crossing his arms and then stroking his beard.

"I'm not ready to leave. I'm having fun for once, just being a normal kid. Listen guys, those kids in school are the future of the Fire Nation If we want a change for the better, we need to show them a little taste of freedom. "

"What could you possibly do for a country full of depraved little fire monsters," Sokka asked.

"I'm going to throw them a secret dance party," Aang said, voice full of conviction.

They all stared at him, jaws dropped in shock.

"Go to your room," Sokka ordered.

However, no one had yet mastered the ability to say no to Aang's puppy dog eyes so they started setting up for the dance party.

"Having a fire bender would be really nice right now," Yun remarked, lighting the umteenth candle.

"Yeah," Katara agreed, also in charge of candle lighting.

"They're coming," Toph warned. "Everyone stop bending."

Appa was sent to the back of the cave, all other pathways of the cave were sealed, and all the candles were lit. The dance party was ready to start.

"I'm kinda nervous for this dance party," Yun admitted. "I've never been to a party before."

"Really," Toph asked. "Don't worry, most of them are usually quite stuffy, so it's not like you missed much."

Most of Aang's class had arrived. They were quite stiff. None of them knew how to dance at all. Not even a little hip shimmy.

Aang started demonstrating, and he was really good at dancing. He was light on his feet and very graceful. Yun cheered with the rest of them when he was done.

"Who knew Twinkle Toes could dance," Toph asked, drinking her punch.

He then started dancing with another girl in his class.

"Wow, they look pretty good together," Sokka commented, before Yun elbowed him in the ribs.

"If that's what you like," Katara said, turning away from them.

Yun widened her eyes at Sokka as if to say 'Wow Sokka, you're an idiot. Just shut up,' while Sokka just shrugged at her and continued to watch people dance. Yun noticed that Aang and Katara began to dance. They were in perfect sync, flipping this way and that, and ducking kicks.

"Wow," Yun breathed. They were great. "I would love to dance with someone like that someday."

"Just ask Aang to dance with you then," Sokka answered, drinking some punch. Yun sighed.

"It wouldn't be the same," she mumbled before walking away to get some more punch.

Then the Headmaster of Aang's school paid them a not so friendly visit.

"Time to go," Yun said to Toph who grabbed Sokka. They began making their way to the back of the cave where Appa was. Aang and Katara joined them and they were on their way.

"We're safe, Sokka. You can take off the mustache now," Katara said.

"Oh no I can't. It's permanently glued to my skin," Sokka said, stroking it. Song saw it and started attacking it, forcing Sokka to try to fend her off.

"Way to go, dancy pants," Toph said. "I think you really did help those kids. You taught them to be free."

"I don't know. It was just a dance party. That's all," Aang said bashfully.

"That was some dance party, Aang," Katara said before kissing Aang on the cheek.

"Flamey-o sir, flamey-o," Sokka said while slow clapping, finally having fended off Song, who was resting on Yun's shoulder. Yun just looked over Appa's saddle at the cave and smiled. That was a fun night.


	14. Book 3 Chapter 3: Sokka's Master

The group was flying along when Yun noticed the shooting starts.

"Guys, we have to land and watch this. It's the only way to properly enjoy it."

When they landed, Toph conjured up a rocky area for them to lean back on and watch the shooting stars properly.

"They're beautiful," Yun said breathlessly.

"Makes you realize how insignificant we are," Sokka whispered.

"Eh, you've seen nothing once, you've seen it 1,000 times," Toph said. They then realized one of the shooting stars heading right towards them.

"Oh man," Sokka remarked. "You've never not seen nothing like this."

The shooting star flew right over their heads and crashed into a nearby hill. The group looked at each other, before noticing the plume of smoke coming up from the crash sight. Wordlessly, they rushed onto Appa and headed for the spot.

Yun could feel the heat before she saw it.

"The fire is going to destroy that town," Katara cried out.

"Not if we can stop it," Aang said.

Appa dropped Toph, Aang, and Sokka off, but Katara and Yun stayed on.

"There's a creek there. Yun and I will bend the water on the fire," Katara said.

Appa flew Katara and Yun over the lake. Together they gathered a massive amount of water, and Appa flew them back.

"One, two, three," Yun counted before they dropped the massive water droplet to Aang.

"Sokka, stand clear," Aang said, before blowing the water over the fire, wiping it out completely.

"Good work everybody," Aang commented.

When they arrived at the village, the group decided to stop to eat. Yun ordered first and found a place to sit down, and the others followed her. Sokka decided not to sit on the table, but instead chose the stairs, where he looked at the village.

"These people have no idea how close they were to getting toasted last night," Aang commented, the last to join the table with his food.

"Yeah, the worst thing about being in disguise is we don't get the hero worship anymore. I miss the love," Toph commented.

"Do you miss it enough to have the Fire Nation and basically everyone else chasing after us all the time," Yun asked wryly.

"I don't know, I'd have to think on it," Toph said, resting her head on her hand.

"Boo-hoo, poor heroes," Sokka said from his seat on the stairs.

"What's your problem," Katara asked, looking over at him. "You haven't even touched your sea slug."

"It's just, all you guys can do this awesome bending stuff, like putting out forest fires, flying around, making other stuff fly around. I can't fly around, okay? I can't do anything."

"That's not true! _No_ one can read a map like you," Katara said, and the rest of them nodded.

"I can't read at all," Toph offered.

"And who keeps us laughing with sarcastic comments," Aang pointed out. "I mean look at Katara's hair, right? What's up with that?"

"What's wrong with my hair," Katara asked, genuinely concerned. She began running her hair through it, as if that would give her answers.

"Nothing, I was just trying to . . .,"

"Look, I appreciate the effort, but the fact is each of you is so amazing and so special, and I'm not. I'm just the guy in the group whose regular," Sokka said, his shoulders slumped forward. Katara, Aang, Toph, and Yun looked at each other, before Katara stood up and walked towards Sokka.

"I'm sorry you're feeling down, but I hope you know that none of us see you that way. I know what will make you feel better," Katara said, sitting down next to him and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"You do," Sokka asked, turning to her.

"It's time to go shopping," she cheered.

While they walked to a weapons store, Yun noticed Sokka was lagging near the end of the group. Slowing down her pace, she walked alongside him.

"Right after the fight at the North Pole, I think I felt the same way you do now. I felt so inadequate compared to all of you, including you Sokka. You acted like a leader in that situation, so calm and collected. I was so scared, I was shaking. You have so many amazing qualities. So don't feel down, okay," Yun said, punching him in the shoulder. She then went to walk by Toph, feeling vague embarrassment at her show of vulnerability. She was happy to see, though, that Sokka had a spring in his step again.

Sokka was back to being happy, clapping when he entered the store.

"Maybe a little something to reinvigorate my battling. Hey, how 'bout these," he asked, holding up a pair of nunchucks. Yun decided to leave him to it as she explored the store, focusing on the dagger section. She saw a few that interested her, but it felt like betrayal to use something that wasn't forged by her father. Besides, she didn't really need new daggers. But they all looked so pretty. She then saw the shop owner talking to Sokka, and worried that he might have gotten in trouble, she walked over to them. She saw Katara, Toph, and Aang do the same.

She arrived in time to hear him say that the sword in front of him was forged by Master Piandao. She didn't know Master Piandao forged swords as well. The shop owner walked away when Aang's head perked up.

"That's it. That's what you needed all along, Sokka," he said.

"A sword," Sokka asked.

"Not the sword," Aang said patiently. "A master. We've all had master to get better. See if you can study with Piandao."

"That's a great idea," Katara said. Yun knew that Master Piandao would take him on. Sokka was a good person and Master Piandao was a nice person so of course Master Piandao would take him.

"I wouldn't be where I am without Master Pakku," Katara said, a hand on her chest. "Everyone needs a teacher."

"I learned from badgermoles. They don't talk, but they're good teachers," Toph said.

Then, they all turned to Yun. She looked back at them for a moment, before realizing they were waiting for her to tell her 'teacher experience'.

"I couldn't have gotten my Ocean Dragon move without Tigok teaching me all about them and sharing his experiences and journal with me," Yun said.

"It would be nice to be a master sword fighter," Sokka said, eyeing the blade. "Alright, I'll talk to him."

"I know he'll take you on," Yun said confidently.

"How do you know," Toph asked suspiciously.

Yun shrugged. She didn't _know_, but she had a good feeling, and she told Toph as much.

Sokka had gone to Master Piandao's house while the rest of them laid on their backs near a cliffside and wondered what they should do.

"Sokka's in charge of the schedule. I'm not sure what we should be doing," Katara admitted. Song was sleeping on Yun's chest, letting out soft purring noises. Maybe, she should follow Song's example and take a nap, just to pass time along. The problem was that she wasn't tired.

"Plus, it's so hot today," Toph said.

"How hot is it," Aang said, grinning as if expecting a joke.

"I don't know. Real hot," Toph said. Katara threw up her hands.

"It's so hot, it's so hot, Momo's shedding like Appa. Huh, huh?"

Yun groaned so loudly Song woke up with an indignant hoot, gliding to sleep on Appa.

"I guess jokes don't run in the family," Aang commented, rubbing his head in frustration.

"Well, everyone's a critic," she said.

"That was a joke," Yun asked, deadpan. Where was the funny part of it?

"Ooo, burn," Toph said unenthusiastically. Katara just humphed and crossed her arms. Appa just growled.

They lay there for a while before Katara decided that they should figure out where they were going next. Yun got the map out of the back on Appa's back and gave it over to Katara. Katara unrolled the map and Aang sat next to her. Yun just sat back with Toph and decided to see where this was going.

"We're starting from here," Katara said, pointing to some point on the map.

"No, we're on this island," Aang said.

"You noodle brains don't know what you're doing," Toph said, lying back down. Yun was appalled.

"You don't know where we are," she asked, trying to keep her voice measured. She stalked over to where they were, and pointed to where Shu Jing Village was.

"We're on this island right here," she told them. She then turned to Aang.

"You know what island you went to school on, right," she asked.

"Yeah, this one," Aang said, pointing to the wrong island.

"How? I. . . this is just so sad," Yun said, going back to sit next to Toph. "You guys don't know how to read a map? That's a life skill. I'm so ashamed of all of you."

"Hey, I can't read at all," Toph protested.

"Toph, I realize this, and I want you to know that you have many other skills that are extremely useful. You should not feel any shame ever, you amazing human being."

"Thanks, Yun," Toph said.

"You guys, on the other hand," she turned back to Aang and Katara. "You guys should be ashamed of yourselves." Yun finished her rant and flopped onto her back next to Toph. She missed Sokka. Toph voiced her thoughts.

"I miss Sokka," Toph sighed.

"Ooh, I got one," Katara said excitedly. "If you miss him so much, why don't you marry him?"

Toph turned her back to Katara and Yun groaned loudly again, getting an annoyed hoot out of Song. Maybe it was better that Yun just took a nap.

She was a few hours into her nap when Toph sprang up.

"Sokka's coming," she announced joyously.

"Hey guys, what are you doing," Sokka asked, climbing up to meet them. The group jumped on him, so glad to have him back.

"We missed you so much," Katara said.

"Say something funny," Aang demanded, stepping back to see Sokka's face.

"Funny how," Sokka said, confused. Katara and Aang burst into laughter.

Sokka looked at Yun and Toph and asked, "What's their deal?"

Toph turned away and said, "I don't know." Yun elbowed her in the ribs for that. She knew Toph had missed him equally as much.

"They missed you or something. I didn't care," Toph continued.

"Liar," Yun hissed in her ear, before getting pushed away aggressively by Toph.

"We all missed you," Yun said. "Seriously, can you teach Katara and Aang how to read a map? They don't know how to, and it's an important life skill."

"I'm confused, but still feel appreciated? Anyway, I need some help," Sokka said. They all made their way to where the meteor had crashed.

"You're going to make a space sword," Yun asked in awe.

"That's a nice name. Yeah, I'm going to make a space sword," Sokka said.

Sokka, Katara, Aang, and Yun pushed the meteor up the hill to Master Piandao's house, while Toph gave them an extra boost with her Earthbending. She couldn't do anything drastic due to the risk of blowing their cover.

Master Piandao greeted Sokka at the gate and his eyes widened slightly when he looked at Yun. She smiled back at him but held a finger to her lips.

"Who's this," he asked, and Yun beamed.

"These are my friends. Just other good Fire Nation folks," Sokka said, laughing nervously. Oh, Sokka didn't tell Master Piandao where he was actually from.

"Do you think we can make a sword out of a meteorite," Sokka asked nervously.

"We'll make a sword unlike any other in the world," Master Piandao declared.

The rest of them waited in Master Piandao's giant hall. The butler kept glancing at Yun, but Yun refused to make eye contact. This was Sokka's day. It was his time to shine, and Yun didn't want to take away from the significance of that.

Sokka and Master Piandao came into the hall where the others were seated. Master Piandao praised Sokka's heart, his creativity, and his intelligence. Yun was bursting with pride; she knew Sokka had those qualities all along, but to hear her Master also acknowledge it was amazing.

"You told me you didn't know if you were worthy," Master Piandao said. "But I believe you are more worthy than any man I have ever trained."

Sokka hung his head. Yun was confused. He was supposed to be happy and proud and elated; he should be holding his head up high, not lowering it in defeat.

"I'm sorry, master. You're wrong. I am not worthy," Sokka said. "I'm not who you think I am. I'm not from the Fire Nation. I'm from the Water Tribe. I lied to learn swordsmanship from you. I'm sorry."

He handed back the sword Master Piandao.

"I'm sorry too," Master Piandao said, turning his back to Sokka. Yun was a little confused. Why was this a big deal? Master knew she was a waterbender, so why was he reacting badly to Sokka being from the Water Tribe? Then it dawned on her. Another test. Master Piandao was really pushing Sokka.

She then noticed she had missed something during her realization as her friends were already rushing out the door. She followed to find Master Piandao sparring with Sokka. Sokka was pretty good for having only one day of training. However, he was constantly on defense, never trying to go forward. He was always going backward. His use of the terrain was amazing though. Yun would have never thought of using the bamboo forest like that. His running with a sword was a little comical, but Yun had to give him a little leeway, because he probably thought he was running for his life. Still, it was funny. The dirt in Master Piandao's eyes was also amazing. Yun needed to think about those things next time she needed to fight somebody.

When Sokka fell to the ground, Master Piandao put his sword at Sokka's throat. Toph, Katara, and Aang were prepared to leap down to help him, but then Master Piandao said, "Excellent work, Sokka" and withdrew his sword.

When he sheathed his sword, he said, "I think I'm a little old to be fighting the Avatar."

"How did you know," Aang asked, getting out of his stance.

"I've been around awhile. You pick things up," he said. Yun climbed down the stairs to join her friends.

"Of course, I knew from the beginning Sokka was Water Tribe. You might want to think of a better Fire Nation cover name. Try Lee. There's a million Lees."

"But why would you train someone from the Water Tribe," Katara asked.

"The way of the sword doesn't belong to any one nation. Knowledge of the arts belongs to us all."

Master Piandao walked over to Sokka's space sword and gave it back to him.

"Sokka, you must continue training on your own. If you stay on this path, I know that one day, you will become an even greater master than I am."

They then both bowed to each other. Master Piandao then turned to Yun.

"I hope you have continued your training."

"Yes, I have, but maybe not as much as you have hoped, Master Piandao," she said, bowing.

Aang's, Katara's, and Sokka's jaws dropped. Toph just raised an eyebrow.

"I know you were keeping a secret," she said.

"Y-y-you know Master Piandao," Sokka stuttered.

"Yeah, I trained with him the months I was away from you guys," Yun explained.

"Why didn't you tell us," Katara asked, hands on her hips.

"Today was Sokka's day. I wasn't going to take away from that," she protested.

"I appreciate that," Sokka said, raising his hand holding his sword.

"Care to have a sparring session with me, Yun," Master Piandao asked.

Yun glanced back at her friends.

"I'd have to run back to Appa to get my daggers and come back. Is that okay with you guys," she asked her friends, not knowing if they had time for this.

Katara, Aang, Toph, and Sokka huddled in for a group meeting. After a few seconds of hushed whispering, Sokka came forward as the group's spokesperson.

"It should be alright . . . as long as we get to watch."

It took a few minutes for Yun to get to Appa and come back with her sheath and daggers. She ran back into the courtyard ahead of the butler, huffing a bit.

"Should I give you a minute," Master Piandao asked, eyebrow raised.

"Maybe just one," Yun admitted, gasping more air into her lungs. Once her heartbeat had somewhat slowed down, she unsheathed her daggers and threw her sheath to the side. Master Piandao looked at her, eyebrow still raised.

Huffing, she picked up her sheath, walked up the steps from the courtyard to the observing area and handed her sheath to Sokka, before climbing down the stairs to meet Master Piandao again. He nodded before holding his stance. Yun took hers. They started circling. Yun felt a grin tug at the corners of her mouth; she had missed this.

She leapt forward, feinting before sliding between his legs to get at his open back. However, she had to step back to avoid a back kick, giving time for Master Piandao to turn around to face her. He then went in for an aggressive jab combination, forcing Yun to back up. She quickly went to the side, aiming for his unprotected left side when she saw the butt of the sword coming towards her face.

She sidestepped the other way, using the flat of one of her blades to stop the sword, and the flat of her other blade to support the blocking on. She then sidekicked him in the stomach to get some space in between them. Since her blades were shorter than his sword, she didn't have the option of fighting long distance, so she leapt in again while he was going back, hoping she could push him off balance. Unfortunately, he had come into his stance and had sent his sword in a swinging arc that Yun had to backbend to avoid. She felt the wind the sword had displace ruffle some of the hair on her forehead.

Backflipping back to give herself more distance, she started circling with him again. She couldn't see any openings. That means she would have to create one. She darted to the left before throwing herself into an attack, aiming a series of slices, forcing her Master on the defensive. She left her left side open however, attacking with the dagger in her left hand. Her Master took the bait, swinging at her left side. Putting some distance between them and giving Master Piandao a false sense of security, Yun then took her right handed dagger and threw it at Master Piandao's right side of his face, forcing him to block it with his sword and leave his body open.

Yun leapt towards that opening, aiming the butt of her remaining dagger right towards his solar plexus. She managed to get him, but didn't realize that the butt of his sword was coming down towards her face. It hit her right on the cheek bone, and they both went down.

Yun was about to roll up when she saw Master Piandao's sword pointing at her throat. She let her head fall to the ground.

"I surrender," she groaned. The felt the sword withdraw, and Master Piandao pulled her to her feet.

"That's going to bruise," he said, commenting on her cheekbone.

"Great," she pouted, hissing when she felt how tender it was. She was then swept up as her friends surrounded her.

"That was great," Aang said, looking at her dagger in awe.

"Will I be able to do that someday," Sokka asked her, rubbing his chin.

"I can heal that for you," Katara offered. Yun laughed.

"Guys, let me get my other dagger," she pleaded. When they finally gave her some space, she started searching for her dagger, surveying Master Piandao's courtyard.

"I believe you are looking for this," Master said, holding up her dagger.

She received it with a bow. Master Piandao then looked at her before smiling. Yun got her sheath back from Sokka and sheathed her daggers.

"You have gotten better indeed. I'm proud to have taught you," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "And I'm glad you got to come back."

"I'm glad too, Master."

They bowed to each other, and then Yun pulled him into a tight hug.

"After the war, I'm going to visit again," she promised him.

"I'll hold you to that," he said.

Master Piandao walked them to his front gate and stayed there as they walked away.

"I didn't know you were so good with daggers," Katara told Yun.

"I'm still learning," Yun said. "I actually learned a lot from Sokka's fighting about using terrain."

"You learned from my fight," Sokka asked as if he didn't hear correctly.

"Of course," Yun insisted. "You've always been the problem solver of the group. I had never even thought of using the bamboo garden or the dirt. I'd love to spar with you sometime."

Sokka's chest puffed up.

"I'd be honored to take you on as my pupil," he declared, swinging an arm around Yun's shoulders.

"I wouldn't go that far," Yun said, but she left Sokka's arm where it was. She was glad Sokka wasn't feeling so down anymore, and she was glad she got to see Master Piandao again. She was content.


	15. Book 3 Chapter 4: The Runaway

Toph and Katara decided to continue Aang training with waterbending and earthbending, so Sokka and Yun decided to sit back and watch.

"Why aren't you training Aang," Sokka asked.

"I'm not his teacher, I guess," Yun said, scratching behind Song's ears. She then noticed that Aang wasn't being trained at all. Instead, Katara and Toph were arguing with each other. What was going on?

"Are we taking a break," Aang asked, while Katara and Toph began fighting.

Then Sokka decided to go in, yelling "Sneak Attack" until Aang earthbended him out of the way.

"Sokka, sneak attacks don't work if you yell it out loud," Aang explained, taking off his blindfold. Yun then decided to attack him with a water whip, sending him flying back. She stood up and dusted off her hands.

"That's how you do a sneak attack," she said.

"Show off," Sokka complained. Aang walked back to them.

"Yup, that was a sneak attack," he confirmed, rubbing his stomach.

Then the three of them watched Katara and Toph wrestle in the mud. It was a little amusing, seeing Katara act that way, but Yun wisely didn't point that out.

"Guys I thought we were supposed to be training me," Aang pointed out. Toph and Katara froze, before Katara stood up, a picture of poise except for all the mud on her.

"Very well, pupil. I believe we've had enough training for today," she said before walking off.

"While Katara cleans up, let's go have some fun," Toph declared.

The two boys cheered in agreement, and Yun had a good feeling this wasn't going to be good.

"So guys, what are we gonna get with our last silver piece," Aang asked, holding it between two fingers. Toph stopped walking, and Sokka, Yun, and Aang turned around to see what she had to say.

"We can get more money," she said, pointing to a back alley. "Right there."

They all rush to see what she was pointing at. There was a man having people guess under which bowl was the stone. Yun shook her head.

"It's a scam. They make it so you can't win," she said.

"This is where you seeing-people are at a disadvantage. Everyone guesses wrong because the dealer moves the rock at the last minute, but I can feel it with my earthbending," Toph explained.

"But I heard that sometimes, they don't even have a rock under the bowls at all. So you have to be wrong," Yun argued.

"I can take care of that," Toph said confidently, cracking her knuckles. They hung around in front of the game, and of course the man points to Toph and asks her if she wants to play a game.

"How could I possibly play," Toph asked. "I'm blind." Yun had to stop the smirk from forming on her face. Toph played the innocent, blind girl so well; it was mildly amusing, just because of how different it was from how she actually behaved.

"You don't have to see to be lucky," he explained. Toph crouched on the ground, patting the bowls and table. Yun was applauding in her mind; what a moving performance! Toph rooted around in her pocket for their only silver coin and put it on the table.

The dealer lifted the bowls to show them the turquoise stone before placing the bowls back down, the middle one over the stone. He then began moving them around. Yun tried following his actions, frantically following the motion of the bowls. She was sure it was the middle one. However Toph pointed to the left one. The dealer lifted the bowl, and there was the stone.

"Flamey-o, Toph," Aang said.

"Wow, fancy guessing," the dealer said. "You're amazing at this. Would you like to make the game a little more interesting?"

"More interesting? How," Toph questioned, her voice a higher pitch that it would normally be.

"Well, let's say you toss in your friend's fine sword there," he said. "Then I'll put up 20 silver pieces against it, and that's more interesting." Toph swiftly took Sokka's sword from him and offered it to the dealer.

"I'll do it for forty silver pieces," she said. Sokka's jaw dropped, and Yun inconspicuously hid her daggers away from the dealer's line of sight.

"Forty silver pieces it is." With this, the dealer began shuffling the bowls across the table. Yun didn't even bother looking this time. She knew Toph would get it right. Toph pointed to the middle one, and before he even looked, he began saying, "Sorry little lady, but . . ."

He then saw the stone sitting right there. His expression was priceless.

"I won," Toph yelled, and Sokka snatched his sword back. Yun grabbed the bag with the forty something silver pieces and they ran off.

"We have so much money," Yun marveled when they stopped. "We could buy supplies, so many supplies."

"Then let's do it," Toph said. So they did it.

They were laughing walking back, each of them having their arms full from supplies bought at the market. They set all of the supplies they got in front of Katara, who was making some sort of stew.

"Where did you get the money to buy all this," she asked suspiciously.

"Toph got us money," Aang explained before biting into an apple. "She scammed one of those guys who move the shells all sneaky-like."

"She used earthbending to win the game. Classic," Sokka said, sitting down next to all of them.

"Ah, so she cheated," Katara said, hands on her hips.

"It isn't cheating if you're cheating a cheater, right," Yun tried to explain, her voice dying out when faced with the full force of Katara's glare. Yun scooted closer to Sokka and hid behind him.

"Yeah, I cheated a cheater, what's wrong with that," Toph asked.

"I'm just saying, this isn't something we should make a habit of doing," Katara sighed.

"Why? Because it's fun and you hate fun," Toph asked.

"I don't hate fun," Katara said indignantly. She then put Momo on her head.

"See? Fun," she said, grimacing. Yun cringed, before Song, who saw her friend Momo on someone's head, decided to fly and land on Yun's head. Then Yun just sighed.

Aang stood up and bowed.

"Katara, I personally make you an Avatar promise that we won't make a habit of doing these scams."

Of course, how many times did doing something make it a habit? Sokka, Yun, Toph, and Aang decided it was relative, so they decided to go out for more.

When they got back to camp, they all started counting how much money they had. Yun could tell they were getting out of control.

"Guys, I think these scams have gone far enough," Katara said, walking up to them. "If you keep doing them, something bad is gonna happen."

"Could you for once stop being such a sourpuss and just lighten up," Toph begged, her hands grabbing her hair in frustration.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You think I should be more like you," Katara asked sarcastically. "Like some wild child?"  
"Yeah! Maybe you'd see how great we have it," Toph said. "I mean look at us. Traveling around the world, making easy money, having fun with no parents to tell us what to do."

"Ah, I see. You're acting like this because of your parents," Katara said. Yun tensed. Bringing up parents usually didn't go down well for anyone in the group.

"Katara," Yun said, beginning to warn her not to continue. However, Katara plowed on.

"They were controlling over you, so now you act like they don't exist. You act like you hate them, but you don't. You just feel guilty."

"I do hate them," Toph said emphatically.

"I don't think so. I think you miss them. You just don't want to deal with that, so instead you act like this crazy person."

Toph leap up to her feet, facing Katara.

"Look, I ran away to help Aang."

"You know what, it doesn't matter. These scams put us at risk. We don't need that. We've already got a third-eyed freak after us," Katara said. Yun shivered. She remembered how he had attacked them during the dead of night, and how he could release some sort of explosion from his forehead.

"Speaking of that third-eyed freak, I came up with a name for him. What do you think of 'sparky-sparky boom man'," Sokka asked. After encountering silence, he continued, "Just think about it."

"I like it," Yun said, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

"Thanks," Sokka said brightly.

"We have enough money. You need to stop this," Katara demanded.

"I'll stop when I want and not when you tell me," Toph yelled. She earthbended a bag of money into her hand and stalked off.

"Speaking of money, I'm off to spend some. See you guys later," Sokka said, guantily walking off.

"Could you buy some treats for Song if you see anything," Yun called after him. Sokka gave her a thumbs up before heading to the village.

"Want to practice some water bending," Yun asked Katara and Aang. They all went to the river below the cliff edge where they were camping out, leaving Toph in her self-made tent. She would come out when she wanted to. Passing along water amongst the three of them, the three of them quieted, concentrating on the movement of the water. However, when they heard Sokka's voice, they decided to head back up.

"Sokka, tell me you didn't buy a bird," Katara said, hands on her hips.

"Not just a bird. A messenger bird," he said pointing at his hawk. Yun gasped, offense coloring her tone.

"Sokka, there is already one bird in this group. How do you think Song will feel after seeing you brought in another bird into the group? What if they fight," Yun asked, gesturing to Song resting on Appa's head.

"But I already told Hawky not to fight with Momo or Song," Sokka explained. "And besides, now we can send messages all over the world, even to Gran Gran."

"Wow, how does it work," Aang asked excitedly, while Yun just looked suspiciously at the messenger hawk.

"Uhhh, I never actually thought about that," Sokka admitted before turning his head to face his bird. "Hawky, Gran Gran, South Pole."

"I think he gets it," Sokka said, satisfied.

"He so clearly shook his head," Yun stated, shaking her head in disappointment. "You bought a messenger bird without knowing how it works. Only you, Sokka."

"Hey, that's not as bad as not naming my pet for half a year! You didn't even know Song's gender until after Ba Sing Se," Sokka said, pointing at Yun.

Her eyes widened as she said, "What does that have to do with anything!"

"I'm just saying, if we are going by pet disasters, you're definitely number one."

Sokka and Yun began glaring at each other, before Yun took a deep breath.

"Why don't we settle by saying what you did was dumb and what I did was idiotic," she said.

Sokka thought about it for a moment, before saying, "Deal," and held out his hand to shake. They shook on it firmly while Katara and Aang looked at them oddly.

"Your idea of conflict resolution is . . . interesting," Aang said. Then Momo saw Hawky and they began fighting. Yun sighed and walked towards Song.

"Behave, okay," Yun said, holding out her arms so Song could glide into them. "We're going to be the best behaved pet-owner duo here."

Yun was helping Katara prepare dinner when Sokka and Toph came in holding more bags of money.

"Well, look who decided to join us. Where have you two been? Off scamming again," Katara asked accusingly.

"Yes, we were," Toph said.

"And I suppose you don't think what you're doing is dangerous at all," Katara said, walking over to Toph.

"No, I don't."

Yun, Aang, and Sokka began backing up. Yun really didn't want this argument to be happening, but she wanted to be involved in the argument even less.

"You're the Avatar, bridge between two worlds, peacekeeper of the Four Nations. Shouldn't you be doing your job and helping these feuding people out," she hissed at Aang. Aang shook his head and scuttled back even faster. They sat on a ridge and decided to see how this would pan out.

"You've been so out of control lately. I knew you were hiding something and you were," Katara said brandishing a wanted poster of Toph. Yun noticed they captured Toph's likeness pretty well. Toph tore the poster out of Katara's hand and threw it on the ground. She then proceeded to stalk away.

"Don't walk away while I'm talking to you," Katara demanded.

"Oh really, mom," Toph said sarcastically. "What are you going to do? Send me to my room?"

"I wish I could," Katara snapped.

"Well you can't," Toph yelled. "Because you're not my mom, and you're not their mom." She then gestured to their audience: Aang, Yun, and Sokka.

"I never said I was," Katara protested.

"No, but you certainly act like it," Toph said viciously. "You think it's your job to boss everyone around, but it's not. You're just a regular kid like the rest of us. So stop acting like you can tell me what to do. I can do whatever I want." By the time she was done ranting, her finger was pointed rigidly at Katara. Yun thought she could see it shaking slightly in frustration.

"I don't act that way," Katara said. She then turned to Sokka.

"Sokka, do I act motherly," she asked furiously.

"Hey, I'm staying out of this one," he said, putting his hands in front of him in surrender.

Knowing that Katara would turn to her next, Yun squeaked out, "Same. Staying out of it."

"What do you think, Aang? Do I act like a mom," Katara asked, putting her full concentration on Aang.

"Well, I," Aang started saying while rubbing his left eye.

"Stop rubbing your eye, and speak clearly," Katara interjected.

"Yes, ma'am," Aang said immediately, straightening up.

"I can't be around you right now," Toph snapped, walking away.

"Well, I can't be around _you_ right now," Katara yelled before stomping the other way.

The sun was starting to set and Katara and Toph were still not talking. Yun decided to try to make things better.

"There was this game that sailors would play that I learned from my travels. Sometimes they would play it to resolve conflicts. Katara, Toph, how about I teach you and-," Yun started to say, before both Katara and Toph yelled, "Shove off, Yun."

Defeated, Yun hung her head and went to sit beside Sokka.

"There, there," Sokka said, patting her head. "You tried your best. Now time for my plan. Do you want to test out my messenger hawk with me?"

"What's your idea," Aang asked.

"I'm going to send a note to Katara and say it's from Toph, who wants to apologize. Then everyone will be friends again," Sokka said.

"I gotta say, Sokka, your ideas continue to impress me," Aang said and Yun nodded. It seemed like a solid plan.

Sokka wrote out the letter and gave it to Hawky to send to Katara. The three of them waited to see what would happen. When Katara read the letter, she turned to Sokka.

"I know this is from you, Sokka. Toph can't write. You're all driving me crazy," she yelled, ripping up the letter and leaving.

"I can't believe we forgot Toph can't write," Aang despaired. Yun felt her face heat up from embarrassment. She couldn't believe that she had missed that.

"Yep, we're idiots," Sokka said.

"Yup," Yun agreed miserably.

"I guess Plan B would be to send a note to Toph pretending it's from Katara," Aang said.

"I think we're gonna run into a similar problem," Sokka said. "Sorry, Hawky. I'll have to do this without your help."

Sokka took Toph somewhere to talk, leaving Aang and Yun behind. They both leaned on Appa and relaxed.

"Keeping peace is hard work, huh," Yun asked Aang. "I can't believe that's what you'll have to do your entire life."

"Yeah, it's hard. What would you do for your entire life," Aang asked Yun.

"Beat stuff up," Yun shrugged.

"Really?" Aang sat up and looked at her incredulously.

"Nah," Yun said. "Haven't planned my life much past helping end the war and finding my parents."

"Right, your parents. So you didn't find them at the North Pole. Where are you going to look next," Aang asked, lying back down on Appa.

"Probably the Southern Islands. They might have been able to hide." Yun then changed the subject. "So, what are your future goals, other than getting married with Katara and being the Avatar," Yun asked, looking at the setting sun and pink clouds.

"W-w-what? Katara? Married? Me? Avatar?"

"Yeah, Aang. Your crush is so obvious, someone could probably see it from a million miles away," Yun explained.

"Really? Do you think she knows," Aang asked, frantically but with hope.

"Honestly, probably not. She has kissed you on the cheek a few times, though," Yun said.

"That was a sibling thing, I think," Aang sighed despondently.

"Well, _I_'ve never kissed anyone on the cheek in a sibling way," Yun said. Aang turned his head towards her.

"Not even Sokka," he asked.

"Yeah. I mean I know he sees me as a little sister, and I know I see him as a big brother, but I mean we aren't biologically related. So I have no idea if it would be awkward to be close with him. I enjoy what I can get, though. I haven't really had a touchy-feely relationship with anyone since my parents. It's complicated," Yun said.

"Yeah, stuff's complicated," Aang sighed.

"Oh, everyone's coming back," Yun told Aang. They both walked over to where Sokka, Toph, and Katara were standing.

"I want to . . . ," Katara started before Toph interrupted her.

"You don't need to apologize," Toph said. "I was being stupid. These scams are out of control and I'm done with them."

"Actually, I wasn't going to apologize," Katara said, smirking. "I was gonna say, I want to pull a scam with you."

Sokka's, Aang's, and Yun's jaws dropped. Even Toph was visibly taken aback.

"What? You want to pull a scam," Toph asked, leaning forward with her hands on her hips.

"Not just any scam," Katara stated. "The ultimate scam. What do you say, Toph? Just me and you. One last go. You in?"

"You know I'm in," Toph declared.

When Katara finished explaining her plan, Yun felt even more uneasy.

"Guys, please don't do this," Yun pleaded. "What we did before was low risk, low stakes. I admit we did escalate a bit, but this is too much. There are so many factors that could go wrong."

"Don't be such a sourpuss," Toph mocked, sticking out her tongue.

"Yeah, Yun. We're going to do this and come back rich," Katara said, putting her arm around Toph's shoulders.

"Well, I'm going to say 'I told you so' when this plan doesn't work out for you," Yun said, crossing her arms.

"See you in a bit," Toph called out as she and Katara went into the village.

Yun looked at Aang and Sokka and began anxiously biting her lip.

An hour went by and Aang and Yun started pacing.

"Do you think this scam should take this long," Aang said.

"It really shouldn't," Yun said. "How long should it take to turn in a wanted poster, get money, and return. And Toph is great at metalbending. She should have been out by now too."

"We'd better check it out," Sokka said.

"You three behave. Appa's in charge," Sokka said sternly, looking at Song, Hawky, and Momo. Song meowed and walked to sit on Appa's foot. Hawky and Momo glared at each other. Yun, Sokka, and Aang began rushing to the village, but it was so empty. There wasn't a soul in sight.

"Where do you think they might be," Sokka asked.

"Where do you think anyone is," Aang asked. Yun looked at the silent village, and eerie feeling settling in the pit of her stomach.

"I knew this was going to go badly," she sighed. "Do any of you remember seeing a prison here?"

Sokka and Aang shook their heads. Then Aang stopped.

"Guys, watch out!" Aang pulled Yun and Sokka behind the gigantic statue of Fire Lord Ozai in the center of the village.

Yun popped up from behind the statue to see what had caused the explosion.

"It's sparky-sparky boom man. He's on the rooftop," she cried out.

"I'm starting to think that name doesn't fit," Sokka said, rubbing his head.

Then sparky-sparky boom man jumped on the ground, his metal prosthetic leg and arm leaving indents in the stone cobblestone. He started walking towards them and breathed in again.

"Move," Yun yelled as they leapt away from their hiding space. They started running, trying to stay ahead of the explosions. They ran and hid behind an overturned cart.

"This guy is too good. He shoots fire from his brain," Sokka whisper-yelled, gesturing to his own forehead with a finger.

"We should split up. He can't chase all of us at the same time," Aang reasoned.

"Aang, he's probably after you, you know? Being the avatar and all. So you have to stay out of this guy's way, okay," Yun said. With that they split up, Aang running right past sparky-sparky boom man. Yun facepalmed. Did that kid listen to anything she said? She ran after him and sparky-sparky boom man. She then saw Aang getting blown off a roof, land across the statue Ozai's pecs and then fall flat on the ground.

"Aang," she cried out, rushing to him. She stood in front of him and faced sparky-sparky boom man. Maybe he did need a new name. She didn't carry her water skin around, so all she had were her daggers. Holding them out, she slid downwards, thinking she could injure his kneecap. She did manage a solid stab to his thigh, but then she was pulled off by his prosthetic arm and thrown aside like a ragdoll. She felt her vision fade for a moment before it came back. She stood up again, only to see sparky-sparky boom man being encased in stone.

"Aang, get up," Katara demanded, while Sokka helped Yun up.

"Let's get out of here," Toph said, as they all ran towards the village exit. Yun looked back only to see sparky-sparky boom man punch his way out of his stone enclosure with just his metal arm. Impressive but mostly terrifying.

Toph pushed Yun in front of her and then turned and fired a chunk of rock at the man.

"Hey, I got it. The perfect name for that guy. Combustion Man," Sokka said.

"Good job, Sokka. Now let's get out before Combustion Man catches us," Toph said.

"See, it fits so well."

When Appa landed far enough from the village, it was already nighttime and Yun was tired. She decided she needed to do one more thing before she fell asleep.

"Katara, Toph," Yun said. "I have something to say to you."

"What," Toph asked suspiciously.

"I told you so," Yun said triumphantly, before sliding off of Appa, gathering her sleeping roll and setting up a place to sleep. The sounds of Katara and Toph humphing lulled her asleep, but she was awake long enough to hear Toph say, "Katara, I need your help."

Yun fell asleep smiling.


	16. Book 3 Chapter 5: The Day of Black Sun

**Note From the Author: In Book 1, the Gaang (minus Toph) met the Mechanist and Teo, and Yun got along very well with Teo. Of course, I didn't write this due to my laziness. So just assume, please. As a favor to this author. **

* * *

The invasion force met Yun and her friends at the cliffside where they were staying. Covered by a cloak of fog, the water tribe boats settled into the docks Aang and Toph had earthbended into creation. There were five boats full of people that they had met on their adventures. Yun watched Katara and Sokka run to their dad and felt a pang of jealousy that she hadn't felt in a while. She just really missed her parents in moments like this.

Yun watched as some guys in leaf loincloths and no pants stepped off the ship. Those must have been the waterbenders who lived in the swamp that Katara was talking about. They weren't quite what Yun expected, but at the same time, they were exactly what she expected. She couldn't quite explain it. Then Yun saw Haru, the earthbender Katara had saved oh so long ago, step off the ship. Katara ran up to him and hugged him. Yun wrinkled her nose; she wasn't quite sure about the mustache and beard he was sporting. She would need time to get used to it.

"Toph, this is Haru," Aang said. "His town was controlled by the Fire Nation, so he had to hide his earthbending."

"Katara inspired me and my father to take back our village," Haru said, while Katara looked away, blushing. Yun blinked and then blinked again. That was new. Haru's father stepped up behind them, putting one hand on his son's shoulder and one hand on Katara's.

"You helped us find our courage, Katara," he said. "Now we're here to help you."

Toph suddenly tensed up before turning.

"No way, is that . . .," she started before she was lifted into the air by an enthusiastic giant.

"Hippo happy to see Blind Bandit," he roared, lifting Toph up into the air the same way a child would life a baby cat-owl. Speaking of which, Yun turned to see where Song was. Calling out her name, she was glad when her pet landed on her arm. Everyone else had their reunions, but they didn't have a cat-owl as cool as Song so there. Yun sure showed them. Yun was then shocked out of her reverie by a large bang. Running over, she saw smoke coming out of one of the boats. She saw Teo descending down to the dock and her face brightened. Running over, she dropped to her knees and gave him a big hug.

"Teo, how are you," she asked, still grabbing around his shoulders.

"Good other than the peanut sauce that I'm covered in. It's also getting on your clothes," Teo commented, laughing, before he returned the hug.

"I don't care. It's been a long time," Yun said, grinning as she backed up from the hug. Teo then saw Aang, and reached into his chair.

"Aang, my dad and I made this for you," he said.

"A new glider. This is amazing," Aang said, unfurling it.

"And as a special feature," the mechanist declared before moving closer to Aang. 'I added a snack compartment."

"Oh, well, I'm sure that will come in handy," Aang said, looking dubious. Yun snickered before turning to Teo.

"We have a little bit of time before Sokka will present the war plan. Do you want me to bring you a koala sheep," Yun asked Teo.

"Why don't you just tell me what's happened since we last met," Teo offered, guiding Yun over to rock where she could sit down.

"A lot's happened. It'd probably take me a week, at least."

"Summarize, why don't you."

"Fine, but only if you promise to tell me what's happening with you," Yun said. She gnawed on her lip for a bit, wondering where to start before launching into her tale.

She was just at the bit where she made a giant ocean dragon for the first time, when a fist landed solidly on her head.

"Ow," she whined, rubbing her head.

"Sokka's thing is starting," Toph said.

"Okay, Teo let's go," Yun said, getting up.

"Actually, I'm going to help my dad with some last minute preparations. You go on without me," he said, wheeling off to one of the boats.

Yun started walking with Toph.

"Soooo," Toph began. "Do you like him?"

"Yeah, he's my friend. I met him when we went to the Northern Air Temple," Yun said.

"Not what I meant, but okay," Toph said. Yun and Toph sat in the front with Katara, Aang, Sokka, and Hakoda. Yun could tell Sokka was nervous and silently wished him luck.

Sokka walked onto the makeshift stage, wishing everyone a good morning before he fell flat on his face. Fumbling with his multiple scrolls, he rose back up.

"So, a-a-as you know, today we're invading the Fire Nation," he said, before he hung his head. "I know you know that. Otherwise, why would you be here? Anyway-." He then dropped his scrolls again. Yun winced, hoping it would get better for Sokka, but things rarely did. He showed the wrong map, then started freaking out, then started explaining things from the beginning. And by beginning, he apparently meant, from the very beginning, when he and Katara found Aang encased in ice. Hakoda rose up and mercifully interrupted Sokka. He began going over the main points of the invasion.

"There are two steps to the invasion," Hakoda said. "There is a naval stage and a land stage. To gain sea access to the Fire Nation capital, we have to get past our first major obstacle." Yun proceeded to tune out the rest of what he was saying. Sokka had gone over the plans with the group so many times, Yun felt she could have recited what Hakoda was saying alongside him.

After Hakoda had finished speaking, everyone split up to prepare for the invasion. Yun had finally acquired four skins and filled them to the brim. She needed as much accessible water as she could. Once they got past the Plaza Tower, she didn't know when the next time she would be able to replenish her water supply. She also shined and sharpened her daggers as a worst case scenario. Her waterbending was the best for long range fighting, but she wanted a contingency plan.

She looked up when Appa roared, seeing him in his full armour set. What a handsome sky bison! Whilst looking back down, Yun saw Sokka staring out into the sea. She made her way up to him.

"Sokka, we're getting ready to go," she said.

"Just give me a minute," he said. Grabbing his hand in hers, Yun squeezed gently.

"This invasion exists because of you, just remember that," Yun said before making her way down to the boat. Before she climbed aboard, she went up to Appa.

"What a handsome fella, you are," Yun cooed. Appa snuffled and licked her. Giggling, she planted a kiss on his armoured head before boarding her designated ship. She settled down next to Teo.

"Are you ready," Teo asked.

"Not really, who really is ever ready for war," Yun asked. A water tribe warrior was in the same boat as them overheard.

"No one really is," he confirmed. "You just have to prepare as much as possible."

With that, the boats took off the shore. It seemed like forever, but not long at all before the boats reached Azulon's gates.

"Well, it's my time to go on deck," Yun said, pushing to her feet.

"Be careful," Teo said.

"Same to you." With that, Yun got up on deck and helped lift a fog to cover the advancing boats. It was then the true gates of Azulon were revealed. Flaming nets of iron lifted from the sea, blocking off access to the capital. At the same time, boats of Fire Nation soldiers were rushing toward their boats. Yun rushed down into the boats where the subs were hidden.

She made sure everyone was on board before she was, cutting the switch with her waterbending and releasing the subs from the bottom of the boat. Then she, along with some swamp water benders began propelling the sub forward. They made it halfway to the capital from the gates of Azulon before they had to resurface. Yun turned to Teo.

"I have to go now. I'm taking care of Appa until we reach the capital," Yun explained. Teo wheeled himself closer to Yun and took her hand. Squeezing it lightly, he looked up at her.

"Take care of yourself," he said seriously.

"Same to you," Yun said, before she let go of his hand. She climbed out of the sub and waterbender her way over to the sub Katara, Sokka, and Toph were at. Aang joined them.

"So this is it, huh," he said.

"Are you ready for the Fire Nation to know the Avatar's alive," Sokka asked. Aang looked up at him with a steely gaze.

"I'm ready," he said firmly. He and Sokka clutched at each other's arms like men do, before the whole group engulfed him in a big hug.

"I hope you kick some serious Fire Lord butt, Twinkletoes," Toph declared. They were interrupted when Hakoda announced that the next time they surfaced, it would be on the beaches of the capital and that they had to head back into the subs. Yun felt her heart rate pick up, but she decided it was because she was so ready to kick some Fire Nation butt. Yun squeezed Aang's shoulder.

"I'll take care of Appa until you get back. Good luck, Aang." Aang nodded at her, and Yun waterbended her way onto Appa.

"Hey buddy, looks like we're travelling together for a bit," she said. She began checking Appa's armour, making sure straps were secure, the saddle was fitted properly, and that everything was in tip-top shape. Seeing Aang take off into the sky, she formed a bubble around Appa's head and they dived down. Yun thought she had seen Katara and Aang kiss, but frankly now wasn't the time to think about it, and also it wasn't her business. Her business was getting Appa safely to the Fire Nation capital and then helping the invasion forces reach the palace.

As they neared the capitals, spearheads attached to chains came flying down at them. Appa had to quickly swim around them. Yun then saw one of the submarines being lifted by the chain.

"Yip, yip," she called out to Appa, urging him in the direction of the sub. Yun quickly cut the chain with her waterbending. Appa remained out of the water, dodging chains so the subs had time to reach the shore. Yun had to bat a fair amount away with her waterbending as well. When she saw the subs had reached the shore and the tanks were being deployed, she urged Appa forward to meet the invasion forces. She jumped off and ran forward a few steps when Sokka caught her arm. She turned so see him, Katara, and Hakoda there.

"We need to take out those battlements," Sokka yelled, pointing up. Yun nodded before climbing back onto Appa.

"Get on!"

Katara was in charge of steering. As they flew by, Hakora threw bombs in one, Sokka sliced off the crossbow tip on another, Katara froze one of the soldiers in battlement, and Yun waterbended a dragon that picked the soldier out of the battlement and froze him to the cliffside. Sokka winced, but Yun just shrugged. It was war after all. Appa landed, and there were three battlements in a row.

"You two take care of that battlement, I got this one. Yun, stay with Appa," Hakoda said.

"There is one at the end," Yun said. "I'll take care of that one."

"By yourself," Hakoda questioned, but Yun was already running towards it. Blasting open the doors, Yun decided she didn't need subtlety. She waterbended a dragon which quickly took care of two of the guards, and with a flick of her fingers and a quick twist of the wrist, the dragon picked up the soldier in charge of the cross bow and flung her out of the battlement. Then with a downwards motion with both hands, Yun let the dragon destroy the crossbow contraption. She ran back to meet Sokka and Katara only to see them kneeling by the fallen form of their dad.

"What happened," she gasped out.

"He was injured when he took out the battlement," Sokka frantically explained.

"Let's get him onto Appa and away from crossfire," Yun urged, helping Sokka and Katara get him onto Appa.

As Appa flew over the invasion force, Yun yelled, "Let me down here."

"We are not landing in the middle of that," Katara said.

"Just fly a little lower," Yun said, getting ready to jump off.

"You're going to get hurt," Katara warned but flew Appa lower. Yun waterbended her way down, using an ice slide of sorts, before melting the ice into water and back into her pouches.

Using the water from three of her four water skins, she created a dragon half the length and width of the Unagi. She covered the tanks which at the moment were in disarray. Sending out her dragon, she was able to knock out multiple Fire Nation soldiers at a time, but she felt sweat forming on her forehead and shakiness in her limbs. It was taking a definite toll on her. Even with all the resistance training, bending an ocean dragon took a lot of energy. However, she needed something that could cover the multiple sides of fire they were under. It was then that Sokka arrived on Appa.

"Listen up everyone. I want the tanks in wedge formation. Warriors and bender in the middle," he yelled. "We're taking that tower and heading for the royal palace." And with that, they advanced. Yun dropped her dragons and ran behind the wall of tanks. They managed to break through the wall to the tower, with the tanks taking up most of the fire damage. When they broke through the wall, Yun could clearly see the path up to the inner part of the capital. They were so close to the Fire Nation palace. They were so close to victory.

The tanks were in a semicircle, taking damage, while earthbenders were in the tanks, sending out rocks intermittently. Yun was inside the semicircle with Sokka reviewing the plans and making changes where necessary. She was looking at the plans when Sokka called out, "Dad!"

Hakoda was walking in, supported by Katara.

"You're on your feet again," Sokka said, relieved.

"Thanks to your sister," Hakoda said, before taking a seat on a displaced piece of rubble. "I can't fight, but maybe there's some way I can help."

"Everything's going smoothly, and the eclipse hasn't even kicked in yet," Sokka said, kneeling in front of his father.

"Let's hope our luck holds out," Hakoda said wisely. Yun was feeling pretty good about the whole thing, but experience from their journeys had shown her nothing ever really works out how people want it to. Katara then began to walk forward.

"Katara, you seem distracted. Is something wrong," Hakoda asked.

"Yeah, is that- is that Aang," Katara asked. Yun turned around, and sure enough, Aang was gliding in. Was the Fire Lord defeated already, before the eclipse?

"Please tell me you're here, because the Fire Lord turned out to be a big wimp and you didn't even need the eclipse to take him down," Sokka implored, looking up at Aang from his position on the floor.

"No one was home," Aang said. "The entire palace city is abandoned."

"They knew," Sokka said, realization dawning on his face.

"It's over," Aang said, hanging his head. "The Fire Lord is probably long gone by now, far away on some remote island where he'll be safe during the eclipse."

"No, my instincts tell me he wouldn't go too far. He would have a secret bunker," Sokka said.

"Yeah," Yun said. "Something tells me he is a proud man. Men like that don't want to think they are running. He would stay close by, but he will remain safe."

"If it's an underground bunker we're looking for, I'm just the girl to find it," Toph said cheerily.

"The mechanist gave me this time device. It looks like we've got ten minutes until the eclipse. Ten minutes to find the Fire Lord," Sokka said.

"We can still do this. We can still win the day," Aang said.

"Wait," Katara warned. "If they knew we were coming, it could all be a trap. Maybe we should use the time we have left to make sure we all get out of here safely."

"Everyone who's here today came prepared to risk everything for this mission. They know what's at stake. If there's still a chance and hope I think they would want Aang to go for it," Hakoda said.

"What do you think," Sokka asked Aang. "You're the one that has to face the Fire Lord. Whatever you decide, I'm with you." Aang's eyes narrow and he turns around to face the palace city.

"I've gotta try," he said.

Toph and Sokka scramble onto Appa.

"I'm going to stay with Dad," Katara said. Sokka turned towards Yun.

"I've gotta help the invasion force," Yun said. "But good luck."

Sokka, Aang, and Toph left on Appa, going towards the volcano and the Fire Lord. Yun turned to Katara.

"If you can cover any projectiles that may come over the tank line, I can help the formation advance," Yun told Katara.

"By yourself? Are you crazy," Katara hissed, holding onto Yun's arm.

"I don't think it's a good idea either," Hakoda advised.

"You said it yourself, everyone who's come here today came prepared to risk everything. We need to make it up that volcano," Yun argued. "Besides, I'm a lot stronger than I look."

Yun wriggled her arm out of Katara's hold and drew out the water from all four of her skins. Walking forward, she summoned a dragon. As she walked in front of the tanks, she sent it forward. With serpentine grace, it accurately blasted away every soldier from there to the base of the volcano. As soon the dragon struck one soldier, it was onto the other, and then the other until what was once an obstacle was now just a path of unconscious bodies. Yun shakily let the water ocean dragon dissolve back into water before drawing as much water as she could back into her water skins.

"Let's go," Yun said weakly before falling to her knees and dry heaving. Katara ran up to her and held her up.

"Might be a while until I can do that again," Yun shakily whispered, unable to stand without putting most of her weight on Katara.

"You're ridiculous," she said crossly before pushing Yun into a tank.

"You are not to come out until you can stand without almost passing out," she ordered, before running back to help her father. Yun appreciated Katara.

She looked around to see that she was placed in the same tank as Teo. He looked over to her.

"I just saw that. You're amazing," he said.

"Thanks, I know," Yun said jokingly, her voice still trembling from exhaustion. Ruffling her hair, Teo turned forward, watching as the tank advanced.

"We're doing this, we're actually doing this," he whispered. Yun sat beside him thinking the exact same thing. She could feel the steepness of the path as they went up the volcano and she could feel the impact of the fire that was raining down upon them.

"I should go out there and help," Yun said.

"Yun, I'm not sure how much of a help you would be in this state," Teo said apologetically. "Just stay and rest a little before going out again. I'm sure Katara doesn't want to be carrying an unconscious Yun around."

Yun was going to argue, but that was a fair point. Sighing, she continued to do nothing as fiery missiles hit their tank. Then all of a sudden, the impact stopped. She heard Pakku say, "The eclipse is only minutes away. We can make it up the hill by the time it starts and secure the entire palace by the time it's finished."

After a few minutes, the Mechanist orders them to put on their eclipse glasses. Yun puts them on and then watches the eclipse. She and Teo watched as the tank rode up the volcano. At the edge, she saw the palace town, deserted and quiet. She saw firebending guards surrendering left and right, now that their fire bending had been taken away by the eclipse. They were so close, but they weren't there yet. Yun got out of the tank and began helping the invasion troops with the surrendered soldiers. She then made her way to Katara.

"No sign of Aang and the others," she asked.

"No sign," Katara answered, looking worriedly at the palace. Hakoda and Yun both looked at the blackened spot where the sun used to be.

"It's almost over," Yun said, noticing how the sun was beginning to show. Please, please Aang. Please end this, Yun prayed.

They had waited a few more moments before Pakku came running up.

"What should we do, Hakoda? Shouldn't something have happened by now?"

"I don't know," he admitted, leaning on a tank. "But now that the eclipse is over, we should see firebenders any minute." Pakku's eyes then widened in fear. Yun, Katara, and Hakoda turned around to see what looked like the Mechanist's balloon but it had the Fire Nation's insignia on it. Behind those were giant, monstrous versions of it. Yun watched, horrified, as the flew above.

"They're back," Katara said. Indeed, Appa was flying towards the group.

"It was all a trap," Sokka said once they landed. "Azula knew we were coming. We just gotta make it to the beach as fast as we can, we can make it to the submarines and get away safely."

"They've got air power, but so do I," Aang declared, standing up. "I'm going to do what I can to slow them down." With that, he was off, flying up with his glider.

"Appa and I can help too," Katara declared, getting on Appa. The rest of the invasion force made it back towards the beaches. On the way, Aang and Katara met back up with them.

"There were too many," Aang explained. Toph bended a stone overhang, and they all braced themselves for missiles overhead. Yun winced as dust shaken up from the impact fell on them. She then saw the balloons keep flying forward.

"Why aren't they turning around to attack us again," Katara asked. Yun then gasped, her hands flying to her mouth in shock.

"The submarines, the subs. They're going to get the subs," she panicked.

"How are we all going to escape," Sokka asked.

"We're not," Hakoda said, led up to them by Pakku. Sokka turned to him.

"Then our only choice is to stand and fight," Sokka said. "We have the Avatar. We could still win."

"Yes, with the Avatar we could still win on another day," Hakoda said. "You kids have to leave. You have to escape on Appa."

"What? We can't leave you behind. We won't leave anyone behind," Katara said, running up to her father.

"You're our only chance in the long run. You and Sokka have to go with Aang somewhere safe. It's the only way to keep hope alive," Hakoda said.

"The youngest of our group should go with you. The adults will stay behind and surrender. We'll be prisoners, but we'll all survive this battle," Pakku added. Haru's father came up.

"It's not going to be easy, but we'll get by," he said.

"They're at the beach already," Sokka yelled. They watched as each of their subs were destroyed. Yun shuddered, seeing their exit strategy so thoroughly destroyed. Yun watched as Teo and The Duke got on Appa. She got on him as well, giving Haru a hand onto Appa as well. Song and Momo curled up around her, picking up the somber attitude all around them. Yun saw Sokka and Katara saying goodbye and felt a spike of self-loathing pierce her body. How could she have felt jealous of them being with their father? She should have celebrated that they could experience that. She turned away from the scene. Sokka and Katara boarded Appa before Aang stood up, wiping away his tears.

"Thank you all for being so brave and so strong. I'm going to make this up to you," he promised, before Appa turned and flew off.

They were heading to the Western Air Temple.


	17. Book 3 Chapter 6: Western Air Temple

They had to walk a good way of their journey. Yun could feel the blisters forming on the bottom of her feet, and the shining sun reminded her of their defeat. The band of weary travelers moved with dragged feet and downturned faces.

"This is humiliating," Katara groused.

"Do you mean getting thoroughly spanked by the Fire Nation or having to walk all the way to the Western Air Temple," Sokka asked sarcastically.

"Both," she replied.

"Sorry, guys, but Appa gets tired carrying all these people," Aang said earnestly.

"I wonder how the rest of the troops are," Teo said.

"Probably on their way to a prison. Seems like my dad just got out, now he's going back in."

"I miss Pipsqueak," The Duke said.

"I miss not having blisters on my feet," Sokka complained.

"I miss not hearing you complain, Sokka," Yun said dryly.

"Hey, we're here. I can feel it," Toph exclaimed. Yun looked around. There was nothing. Maybe the sun had gotten to Toph.

"Uh, I think your feet need their eyes checked out," Katara commented. Yun snorted thinking about eyes on feet, and then shivered in disgust when she thought about it too hard.

"No, she's right, we are here," Aang declared. It turned out that beneath them was the temple. When Appa flew them down there, Yun looked wide eyed and open mouthed at the architecture. It was amazing. Teo, The Duke, and Haru ran off to explore. Yun stayed with Katara, Sokka, and Toph, but she promised herself that once she had some free time, she would thoroughly explore the temple.

"So, what's the plan," Aang asked, his arms crossed defensively.

"Well if you ask me, the new plan is the old plan," Sokka said. "You just need to master all four elements and confront the Fire Lord before the comet comes."

"Oh yeah. That's great. No problem, I'll just do that," Aang said sarcastically.

"Aang," Katara said patiently. "No one said it's gonna be easy."

"Well, it's not even gonna be possible," Aang said, his voice rising. "Where am I supposed to get a firebending teacher?"

"We could look for Jeong Jeong," Katara suggested.

"Yeah right, like we'll ever run into Jeong Jeong again," Aang despaired. After a moment, he popped up to his feet. "Oh well, guess we can't come up with anybody. Why don't we just take a nice tour around the temple?" He walked towards the inside of the temple.

"I would like that," Yun stated before Katara silenced her with a sharp look.

"What's up with him," Toph asked.

"There's got to be someone who can teach him firebending," Sokka said rubbing his chin.

"What about we enroll him in a firebending school? Once he learns the basics, he can just read texts and scrolls to advance his bending. That's what I did," Yun offered.

They all looked at Yun and then hummed.

"Well, I'm going to explore with Teo and the others until Aang sorts out his stuff. See ya," Yun said before running through the temple.

"Teo," she called out.

"Yun," Teo called back. The echoes didn't make it easier for Yun to locate them.

"Teo," she called out again.

"Yun," came the echo-y response back. Yun ran forward again almost to trip over Teo.

"I found you," she said, steadying herself on his shoulders. Righting herself, she saw Haru and The Duke.

"Hi Haru, The Duke. Have you found any secret rooms," she asked excitedly.

"No secret rooms," The Duke said. "But we did find passages that connect the different temple towers."

"Onward," Yun cheered. The Duke, Teo, and Haru showed Yun all the cool things they found. They were able to go through a few tunnels when Yun heard Sokka's voice.

"Not really, since you followed us around the world."

"What's going on," Yun said, stepping past the temple pillars towards where the group stood.

"Stay back, Yun," Sokka warned. Yun ignored him and stepped next to Aang only to see Zuko. She immediately took a step back and looked around to find Song. She was resting on Appa's head.

"Song," Yun quietly called, and Song glided over to her. Yun wrapped her up in her arms.

"Anyway, what I wanted to tell you about it that I've changed and I, uh, I'm good now and, well, I think I should join your group. Oh, and I can teach firebending . . . to you," Zuko said, turning to Aang.

"You wanna what now," Toph asked incredulously.

"You can't possibly think that any of us would trust you, can you," Katara said. "I mean, how stupid do you think we are?"

"Yeah, all you've ever done is try to hunt us down and capture Aang," Sokka added.

"I've done some good things. I mean, I could have stolen your bison in Ba Sing Se, but I set him free. That's something. I also set your friend over there free," he said, pointing to me. "I set her free." Appa licked him.

Aang, Sokka, Katara, and Toph turned to Yun. Yun took another step back and shook her head. "I don't remember anything that happened back then. I can't remember."

"Appa does seem to like him," Toph pointed out.

"Well, Yun doesn't remember anything, and he probably covered himself in honey or something so that Appa would lick him. I'm not buying it."

"I can understand why you won't trust me, and I know I've made some mistakes in the past," Zuko said.

"Like when you attacked our village," Sokka asked.

"Or when you stole my mother's necklace and used it to track us down and capture us," Katara spat.

"Look, I admit I've done some awful things. I was wrong to try to capture you, and I'm sorry that I attacked the water tribe. And I never should've sent that Fire Nation assassin after you. I'm going to try to stop him."

"Wait, you sent Combustion Man after us," Sokka yelled, pointing his boomerang at Zuko.

"Well, that's not his name, but . . .,"

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to insult your friend," Sokka said sarcastically.

"He's not my friend," Zuko said sharply.

"That guy locked me and Katara in jail and tried to blow us all up," Toph said, pointing a finger at Zuko.

"Why aren't you saying anything," Zuko turned to Aang. "You once said you thought we could be friends. You know I have good in me."

Aang looked to his left where Sokka shook his head before facing Zuko again.

"We can't trust you now, not after everything you've done."

"You need to get out of here _now_," Katara threatened.

"I'm trying to explain that I'm not that person anymore," Zuko said, walking towards them.

"Either you leave, or we attack," Sokka warned. Zuko closed his eyes and kneeled on the ground. Yun was really freaked out. What sort of ploy was this. What was he playing at?

"If you won't accept me as a friend, then maybe you'll take me as a prisoner."

"No, we won't," Katara yelled, blasting Zuko with water so hard he was pushed back a few feet. "Get out of here and don't come back. If we ever see you again . . . well, we'd better not see you again." Zuko silently got to his feet and left. Yun watched wide-eyed as he walked back to the woods. They were silent for a few minutes, the shock really setting in. Teo, The Duke, and Haru left them alone, going back inside the temple.

"Why would he try to fool us like that," Katara asked.

"Obviously, he wants to lead us into some kind of trap," Sokka said.

"This is just like when we were in prison together in Ba Sing Se," Katara said, unfurling her sleeping roll. "He starts talking about his mother and making it seem like he's an actual human being with feelings."

"He wants you to trust him and feel sorry for him so you let your guard down then he strikes," Sokka reasoned.

"The thing is, it worked," Katara said. "I did feel sorry for him. I felt like he was really confused and hurt, but obviously when the time came, he made his choice, and we paid the price. We _can't_ trust him."

"I kind of have a confession to make," Aang said. "Remember when you three, Yun, Katara, and Sokka, were sick and I got captured by Zhao,"

"And you made us suck on frozen frogs," Sokka exclaimed. "How could I forget? I had a wart on the flap that hangs down from the back of my throat for a month."

"Sokka, I looked at it and told you there was nothing there," Katara said crossly.

"I could feel it. It's _my_ throatal flap," Sokka replied.

"Well, _I_ also looked at it and confirmed nothing was there. Majority wins, Sokka," Yun said softly, unfurling her sleeping roll too. The confrontation with Zuko and having to remember her time Ba Sing Se had given her a headache, and she desperately wanted to lie down.

"Anyway, when Zhao had me chained up, it was Zuko who came in and got me out. He risked his life to save me," Aang continued.

"No way, I'm sure he only did it so he could capture you himself." Katara said

"Yeah, face it, Aang. You're nothing but a big prize to him," Sokka said.

"You're probably right," Aang agreed.

"And what was all that crazy stuff about freeing Yun and setting Appa free. What a liar," Katara said. Yun flinched when she heard her name. She was hoping that stuff wouldn't be brought up.

"Actually, he wasn't lying," Toph said.

"He wasn't," Yun asked Toph. She shook her head.

"Oh hooray, he did two nice things in his lifetime of evil," Sokka said.

"I'm just saying that considering his messed-up family and how he was raised, he could've turned out a lot worse," Toph reasoned.

"You're right, Toph. Let's go find him and give him a medal. The 'not as much of a jerk as you could've been' award," Katara mocked, her hands on her hips.

"All I know is that while he was talking to us, he was sincere. Maybe you're all letting your hurt feelings keep you from thinking clearly," Toph said. Yun winced. That was going to piss off some people.

"Easy for you to say. You weren't there when he had us attacked by pirates," Katara said. Yun did remember the pirates. She also remembered going over that waterfall. Two terrifying instances in one day.

"Or when he burned down Kiyoshi Island," Sokka said. That wasn't a great memory either. Seeing her village burn down as she left it behind on Appa filled her with guilt. She ran away from another destroyed home.

"Or when he tried to capture me at the Fire Temple," Aang said. That wasn't a great memory for sure. At that moment, she had no idea how they were going to escape, especially since they were chained to a column.

"Why would you even try to defend him," Katara yelled, infuriated.

"Because, Katara, you're all ignoring one crucial fact," Toph spat out, walking over from the column she had been leaning on. "Aang needs a firebending teacher. We can't think of a single person in the world to do the job. Now one shows up on a silver platter and you won't even think about it?"

"I'm not having Zuko as my teacher," Aang said.

"You're darn right you're not, buddy," Sokka said.

"Well, I guess that's settled," Katara said, crossing her arms triumphantly.

"What do you think, Yun," Toph said, turning to me. "He saved your life, afterall." Yun licked her dry lips nervously.

"Well, I don't think it's a good idea. He just changed sides so fast. We have no way to know if he'll do it again," she said. She honestly didn't know. There was no point in her voicing her opinion if Aang didn't want him as a teacher.

Toph groaned and then said, "I'm beginning to wonder who's really the blind around here." She then walked away. Yun worried about what she had said. After tossing in her bed roll for what seemed like the thousandth time, she went over to Aang's bed roll and shook him awake.

"What," Aang asked, confused.

"Aang, we need to talk," Yun said. "We need to talk about Zuko." Aang waved her off.

"In m'rng," he mumbled. After a few more shakes, Yun decided that Aang wasn't waking up and maybe they could talk about it in the morning. She went over to sleep by Appa.

"Appa, buddy, I really don't know how to feel about this whole Zuko thing. He did destroy Kiyoshi village, and send pirates after us and capture us at the Fire Temple and kidnap Aang and burn Song and call me weak and knock me out, but also, he saved our lives, so I'm very conflicted. You don't seem very conflicted, buddy. I saw you licking his face," she accused. Appa licked her face before snuffling and falling back asleep.

"You're lucky you're so cute. Otherwise-"

Yun fell asleep before she had a chance to finish that thought.

Stretching until her back cracked, she looked up to see Appa blinking down on her.

"Did I hold you up buddy? Sorry, I'll get off now," Yun said, getting up and kissing Appa between his eyes. She was properly awoken by a loud rumble, like rocks falling. She ran towards Aang and the others. Were they under attack?

"What happened," she asked, looking at Toph's feet in the fountain.

"My feet got burned," Toph said. Yun sat at the edge of the fountain, moving the water in a way that numbed the nerves of the areas that were in contact with the water.

"Does that feel better," she asked Toph and got a content sigh in response. The peaceful moment was interrupted by a blast, shaking the foundation of the building and sending debris raining down on them. Sokka and Aang grabbed Toph, ready to take shelter when they all heard Zuko's voice yell, "Stop!"

Yun turned to see Zuko facing down Combustion Man on a ledge above where they were.

"I don't want you hunting the Avatar anymore. The mission is off. I'm ordering you to stop."

Zuko was then flung aside and Combustion Man sent another mind blast at them. Yun, Katara, Sokka, Toph, and Aang were crouching behind the fountain.

"We need to get behind that wall," Yun hissed. They then heard the blast, and Yun looked up to see Zuko getting blasted off the ledge. Aang then got out from behind the fountain and sent a funnel of wind at Combustion Man. Using that as a distraction, Sokka and Yun carried Toph to behind a wall of the temple. Aang and Katara were still out there. Katara used some of the water to throw icicle daggers at him; using that as a distraction all of them were out of direct line of fire from Combustion Man. Unfortunately that also meant they couldn't get a clear hit on him. They all flinched when another column of the building was destroyed by a violent blast.

"He's going to blast this whole place right off the cliffside," Toph realized, horrified.

"I can't step out to waterbend at him without getting blown up," Katara said. Sokka looked at Yun and wiggle his fingers.

"Can you do your dragon thing," he asked.

"While it does have a certain form of sentience, I still need to see my target properly. So . . . no," Yun said. Sokka paused for a moment, looking speculative.

"I know how to get an angle on him," Sokka declared excitedly. He lined up his boomerang. "Alright buddy, don't fail me now." With that, he threw it. Making a graceful arc, it hit Combustion Man right in the forehead, knocking him out. Sokka ran out and caught it cheering. They all ran out of their hiding place.

"Yeah, boomerang!"

Combustion Man then slowly got up.

"Awwww, boomerang," Sokka whined, looking at his beloved weapon. Now they all had to run back. From their hiding place, they heard a loud bang but didn't feel the impact. Looking out, Yun saw the blown up building. She, Katara, Sokka, and Aang ran closer to get a look and then looked at each other incredulously.

"Did he just blow himself up," Yun asked hesitantly. They all shrugged and then they all, sans Toph, looked down again.

They all regrouped when they saw Zuko walking towards them. Yun set Toph down on a rock and then went to stand next to Sokka.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but thanks, Zuko," Aang said.

"Hey, and what about me? I did the boomerang thing," Sokka said, showing off his boomerang skills.

"Listen, I know I didn't explain myself very well yesterday. I've been through a lot in the past few years and it's been hard. But I'm realizing that I had to go through all those things to learn the truth. I thought I had lost my honor and that somehow my father could return it to me. But I know now that no one can give you honor. It's something you earn for yourself by choosing to do what's right. All I want now is to play my part in ending this war. And I know my destiny is to help you restore balance to the world," Zuko said before turning to Toph. "I'm sorry for what I did to you. It was an accident. Fire can be dangerous and wild. So as a firebender, I need to be more careful and control my bending, so I don't hurt people unintentionally."

"I think you are supposed to be my firebending teacher," Aang said. "When I first tried to learn firebending, I burned Katara. After that, I never wanted to firebend again. But now I know you understand how easy it is to hurt the people you love. I'd like you to teach me." Aang bowed to Zuko. Zuko bowed in return.

"Thank you," he said. "I'm so happy you've accepted me into your group."

"Not so fast," Aang said. "I still have to ask my friends if it's okay with them. Toph, you're the one that Zuko burned. What do you think?"

"Go ahead and let him join. It'll give me plenty of time to get back at him for burning my feet," she said, her face promising revenge.

"Sokka," Aang asked.

"Hey, all I want is to defeat the Fire Lord. If you think this is the way to do it, then I'm all for it," he said, shrugging.

"Yun," Aang said, looking at her. Yun sighed.

"I mean he almost died saving us from an assassin. We can hardly doubt his sincerity."

"Katara," Aang asked hesitantly. Yun understood why he asked her last. She was the final obstacle. Yun could tell she was still angry and deeply hurting.

"I'll go along with whatever you think is right," she said begrudgingly.

"I won't let you down, I promise," Zuko said, overjoyed, but the rest of the group went off ahead of him. They couldn't accept him as a friend, not yet. He was . . . a tentative ally for the time being.

Yun treated Toph's feet, running water over her soles, increasing blood flow to accelerate healing.

"You're lucky your feet are so tough. If it was any regular person's feet, they might need a month to heal. With you, I just need to do this twice a day, morning and night, and you should be walking just fine by the end of the week," Yun said.

"Aw yeah," Toph cheered. "Not seeing with my feet sucks."

"You know, Toph, I was trying to think of ways that your ability to see could be replicated with waterbending, but so far, I haven't had any luck," Yun said.

"What were you thinkin' of," Toph asked, picking at her teeth.

"Well if I had a fine mist spread around wherever I was battling, I could theoretically sense vibrations like that, but honestly that means wasting my water reserves and even then focusing on vibrations with a medium like water vapor. It just doesn't seem feasible. I just have to accept you are one of a kind and not able to be replicated."

"That's right," Toph said proudly. Yun picked her up and sat her down on her bed roll. She then picked herself up and sighed deeply. She probably should check Zuko for wounds or such, because Katara definitely wouldn't do it. Rolling her shoulders wearily, she made her way over to Zuko's place, isolated from the rest of them. She knocked on the door. At the "Come in," she entered.

"If you're here to threaten me about betraying your group, you've come a little late," Zuko grouched.

"I'm not one for threatening," Yun admitted. "And besides, I don't think it would really be effective considering I knocked and everything." Zuko then turned to properly face Yun.

"Then why are you here," he asked.

"You did get blasted off a ledge by Combustion Man. I know how much his blasts hurt, so I just wanted to check for injuries," Yun said.

"No injuries here," Zuko said, turning away again.

"What about your hands," Yun pressed. "You had to climb your way back up."

"I'm fine," Zuko persisted.

"Then show them to me, so I can be sure," she said, crossing her arms and planting her feet. As if sensing that Yun didn't plan on leaving, Zuko reluctantly showed her his hands. Yun hissed in sympathy. The palms of his hands were red and blistered while some of his fingernail beds were bloody, probably from the impact of grasping onto that vine for dear life.

"Your definition of fine is very flawed," Yun let him know before waterbending on his hands.

"You're a bender," Zuko asked, his hands jerking reflexively. Yun grabbed tighter, determined to finish treating him.

"Yeah," Yun said, wondering why this was surprising.

"I-I didn't know," Zuko confessed. Yun then got what he was talking about.

"Oh, do you mean in the North Pole. When you knocked me out," Yun said flatly.

". . . yes," Zuko winced. Yun didn't reply. She really didn't owe him an explanation. She didn't owe him anything. Even if he did save her, he did so many other horrible things. Still, Yun felt as if she owed him for Ba Sing Se. That was an issue she would ignore for now. After she finished the treatment, she wrapped his hand in cloth.

"Just leave it overnight, just to avoid infection," Yun said, getting up out of her kneeling position.

"Thanks," Zuko said, looking at his bound hands.

Yun walked to the doorway and paused before she exited.

"Well, you saved my life in Ba Sing Se, so I suppose I should be thanking you."

With that, she made a speedy exit to where the rest of the group was sleeping. She settled on her bed roll next to Aang and Teo.

"Where were you," Teo whispered. Yun paused, wondering if it was worth explaining.

"Just wandering," Yun whispered back. She was tired. Yawning, she snuggled deeper into her bed roll and fell asleep.


	18. Book 3 Chapter 7: The Firebending Master

"Hey, check this out," Teo called out. Toph and Yun came running over to see what it was.

"It's a bunch of hay for Appa," Teo said, wheeling around what seemed like a large dome like room.

"This must be where all the sky bison where kept," Yun said, wander around. It was so empty without the sky bison, and Yun felt sad and angry at how much the Fire Nation had ruined the world.

"We can bring Appa some for dinner, so he won't have to scrounge around the woods again," Teo said, holding up a big pile.

"How do we know if it's still good," Toph asked, picking her nose. Yun wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Toph," she said exasperatedly. Toph shrugged, her finger still up her nose.

"Well, I encountered this in the Northern Air Temple. Somehow the airbenders made it so air circulation helped everything in the bison stables stay fresh. My father tried to figure out how they did it, but he never got time to really check it out," Teo explained. He looked sad when he talked about his father. Yun started carrying piles of hay and put them on Teo's lap and ruffled his hair. Then, she and Toph took an armful each and brought it to Appa. Yun bowed as she approached.

"Here you go, your Majesty," she said, keeping her head down as she placed the hay in front of Appa. Teo laughed and Toph rolled her eyes. Appa lowed in greeting. Yun straightened up and kissed Appa between his eyes.

"Hi, buddy. We got some hay for you. Eat well." She then helped Teo get all the hay off his lap and Toph threw her hay into the pile. They then all went to sit in the circle. Yun's stomach gave a loud growl, and Teo looked at her with constrained laughter. Yun shoved his shoulder playfully. She then saw Zuko walk in.

"Listen everybody. I've got some pretty bad news. I've lost my stuff," he said, looking down. Yun looked at Zuko, confused. The obvious culprit was probably Momo, so they would have to check on him first.

"Don't look at me. I didn't touch your stuff," Toph said, holding her hands up in surrender.

"It's obviously Momo's fault," Yun reasoned.

"I'm talking about my firebending. It's gone," Zuko interrupted. Katara started laughing, and they all turned to her.

"I'm sorry. I'm just laughing at the irony. You know, how it would've been nice if you'd lost your firebending a long time ago," she said flippantly.

"Well, it's not lost. It's just . . . weaker for some reason."  
"Maybe you're not as good as you think you are," Katara said.

"Ouch," Toph said at the same time Yun said, "Burn." Zuko did not look happy. Well, he looked grumpier than usual.

"I bet it's because I changed sides," he said.

"That's ridiculous," Katara said.

"I don't know," Aang said thoughtfully. "Maybe it isn't. Maybe your firebending comes from rage and you don't have enough anger to fuel it the way you used to."

"So all we need to do is make Zuko angry. Easy enough," Sokka reasoned. He then went on to poke Zuko with his sword sheath and laugh obnoxiously. Yun fully expected Zuko to explode into a fiery explosion and leaned back. Instead he yelled.

"Okay, cut it out! Look, even if you're right, I don't want to rely on hate and anger anymore. There has to be another way."

"You need to learn to draw your firebending from another source. I recommend the original source," Toph said.

"How's he supposed to do that? By jumping into a volcano," Sokka asked.

"No," Toph said. "Zuko needs to go back to the original source of firebending."  
"So is it jumping into a volcano," Sokka asked hopefully.

"I don't know. For earthbending, the original benders were badgermoles. One day, when I was little, I ran away and hid in a cave. That's where I met them. They were blind, just like me, so we understood each other. I was able to learn earthbending, not just as a martial art but as an extension of my senses. For them, the original earthbenders, it wasn't just about fighting. It was their way of interacting with the world," Toph explained.

"That's amazing, Toph," Aang said. "I learned from the monks, but the original airbenders were sky bison. Maybe you could give me a lesson sometime, buddy."

"Well, this doesn't help me," Zuko said. "The original firebenders were dragons and they're extinct."

"What do you mean," Aang asked. "Roku had a dragon and there were plenty of dragons when I was a kid."

"Well they aren't around anymore, okay," Zuko snapped.

"Okay, okay. Sorry," Aang said meekly. Zuko turned his back on the group and began to walk away.

"But maybe there's another way," he said. "The first people to learn from the dragons were the ancient Sun Warriors." Aang rose to follow him.

"Sun Warriors? They weren't around when I was a kid," Aang commented.

"No, they died out thousands of years ago, but their civilization wasn't too far from where we are now. Maybe we could learn by poking around their ruins."

"It's like the monks used to tell me. Sometimes, the shadows of the past can be felt by the present."

"_So_ what? Maybe you'll pick up some super old Sun Warrior energy just by standing where they stood thousands of years ago," Sokka asked.

"More or less," Zuko replied. "Either I find a new way to firebend, or the Avatar has to find a new teacher." He walked off after that, and the rest of dinner continued in silence. When they finished dinner and began piling bowls, Yun noticed there was enough soup for one more bowl.

"Zuko didn't have dinner," she said. Immediately, there was a flurry of activity and everyone present had their finger on their nose.

"Seriously guys," she asked, throwing her hands up. "Every time we have to decide something? Even you, Aang?" He shrugged sheepishly.

"You're just mad because you're bad at it," Toph teased. Yun groaned and waterbended the soup into a bowl.

"I hate you all," she groaned out, preparing to walk to Zuko's room.

"Even me," Teo asked.

"Not you," she amended.

"What about me," The Duke asked.

"Well, not you either."

"What about me," Sokka said, looking exaggeratedly innocent.

"I hate you the most," Yun grumped before heading to Zuko's room. She knocked on the door and stepped in at the "Come in."

"You didn't have dinner," she commented, holding out the soup. Zuko looked like he was going to argue, but then sighed and accepted the bowl.

"Thanks," he grumbled.

"Just put the bowl with the others. We're probably just going to wash it in the morning." Zuko inhaled as if he was about to say something, so Yun looked at him expectantly.

"Nothing," he murmured, looking down at his bowl. Yun shrugged and said goodnight before leaving the room. Zuko was a strange, grumpy guy. She went back to the group and struck an exaggeratedly triumphant pose.

"Mission accomplished," she said, before settling into her bed roll.

Zuko and Aang left early the next morning on Appa, while Katara and Yun watched them go. Katara was already fretting.

"Maybe we shouldn't have let them go off on their own. Someone should be with Aang incase- incase Zuko-,"

"Zuko does what," Yun asked. "He can't really bend, while Aang is the literal Avatar. He's fine Katara." Yun put a hand on her shoulder. "Why don't we check out the bath house. Teo and I found it the other day and it works pretty well."

"But-," Katara tried to protest.

"Nope," Yun said, steering Katara towards the bathhouse. "I'll call Toph and we can have a girls day. My mother used to have those with her friends. It's an adult thing that women do. We are adults, therefore we shall have a girls day."

"Are we adults," Katara pondered.

"I mean, after all we've been through, I think we should be," Yun said. Katara hummed in agreement.

When they got Toph, the girls went into the bathhouse. It had a giant communal pool that Katara and Yun warmed up. The girls shed their outer clothing and relaxed in the hot water. Yun let a long sigh of content as she sunk deeper into the water.

"It's been so long since we hung out," she said.

"It has been a long time," Katara said with her eyes closed. "I didn't realize how much I missed it, honestly."

"We should explore the temple today," Yun said after a moment of silence. "Toph and I found so many interesting rooms. We even found the echo chamber Aang was talking about."

"I'd rather stay here," Toph said, fully in relaxation mode.

"All day," Yun asked incredulously. "Even when we start pruning and looking like old ladies?"

"Yup," Toph said, making a popping sound on the 'p'.

They all relaxed in the water for a bit, Yun making a tiny dragon that splashed in and out of the water around her. Katara noticed what she was doing and sat up straighter to face Yun.

"I've been meaning to ask, where did you learn to do that," she asked, her eyes on the dancing dragon.

"When I was at the North Pole, I found a scroll talking about how there was this guy who could firebend messenger hawks or some sort of bird. So his multiple blasts took the form of birds, and they would swoop and strike quickly and accurately. So I kinda did the same thing, but with an ocean dragon," Yun said, shrugging.

"But how," Toph said, curious.

"Well when I was traveling from the North Pole to Master Piandao's place in Shu Jing Village," Yun said, letting her tiny dragon dance around her pruning fingers. "I was reading the scroll, and I knew that I wanted to make an ocean dragon. Then I met a sailor, Tigok, who actually met an ocean dragon and he gave me a journal with all of his findings. And then on my way to Ba Sing Se, I was going across the Serpent's Pass and got attacked by the Serpent and then I summoned an ocean dragon and yeah. That's it."

"Why an ocean dragon," Katara asked. Yun laughed nervously.

"What is this, an interrogation," she asked.

"Well, Yun, I just feel like we don't know much about you," Katara said crossing her arms. "You know a lot about us. My dad, Toph's family problems, Aang's Avatar stuff."

"You never asked," Yun exclaimed.

"We're asking you now," Toph reminded her. When Katara and Toph worked together, they were really quite scary.

"Ask away," Yun mumbled meekly, splashing water around.

"Stop splashing water, and don't mumble," Katara scolded. Yun scowled but stopped splashing around the bath water.

"First things first, it seems everyone knows what happened to your parents but me," Toph said, waiting for an explanation. Yun chewed on her bottom lip, unsure on how to start.

"I guess that was my whole reason for joining this adventure. I knew Katara was going to the North Pole, and um, let me start from the beginning. I lived in the Southern Islands for most of my life. Then the Fire Nation came and burned my village to the ground. I escaped but my parents were left on the island. They said they'd meet me in the North Pole, but they weren't there."

"So are they. . .," Toph said.

"Dead? I'm sure they made it out. Once the war's over, the first thing I'm going to do is search the world for them. Maybe I can ask Zuko for some tips," Yun joked. Katara groaned.

"Don't remind me of that."

"Is that all the questions," Yun asked, eager to shift the attention elsewhere.

"Nope," Katara said. "Why an ocean dragon?"

"Well, they were my dad's favorite creature and our village animal."

"Village animal," Toph asked.

"Yeah, there were four villages living on the Southern Islands. Each one had an animal, and ours was the Ocean Dragon. Pretty cool, huh? My dad would tell me so many stories about ocean dragons and how they have protected the village for centuries."

"How did you know Master Piandao," Katara asked. This was an easy one.

"My father sold him daggers. In fact, my father was the one who made my daggers. He's the best when it comes to super short range weapons, and Master Piandao is the best when it comes to swords."

"What's going on with you and Teo," Toph asked.

"We explore the palace together," Yun asked, unsure about the question. "We met at the Northern Air Temple?"

"No, is he your boyfriend," Toph asked bluntly.

"No! We're friends," Yun said, shocked. She knew girls in her village dated, but she never understood the need to.

"Boring," Toph huffed.

"If you want something interesting, you should ask Katara about Aang," Yun said, dying to let someone else have the spotlight. "They kissed and all."

"You saw that," Katara squawked.

"I was on Appa, so yeah," Yun said, awkwardly. It was hard to not see it. She did try her best.

"Wow, Katara," Toph drawled.

"You know, I'm definitely feeling pruny," Katara said, standing up suddenly. "I'm going to get out."

"Me too," Yun said. They all got out, and Yun and Katara waterbended them dry.

"What should we do for the rest of the day," Yun asked once they were dressed. The two other girls shrugged.

"Let's go find Sokka," Katara suggested. Yun and Toph both shrugged and so they went to go find Sokka.

They found Sokka and Teo fiddling with something they hid behind their backs when they saw Katara, Toph, and Yun arrive.

"Hey guys," Sokka said, his eyes darting around. "What's going on?"  
"Nothing much," Katara said. "What are you doing?"  
"Nothing," Sokka said, his eyes darting to Yun and then away.

"Do you want to spar, Sokka," Yun asked. "I could help with your sword practice, if you'd like?"  
"Why don't you spar with Katara or Toph for now. I have something really quick to do with Teo," he said. Yun could take a hint. They weren't wanted. She looked at Katara and she shrugged, so they decided to go to the fountain. They all lay on their backs.

"I'm bored," Toph said, picking at her toes.

"It is odd not having anything to do," Katara said. Yun flipped from her back on to her side to see the other two girls.

"Do you want to spar," she asked. She really didn't want to, but at least it was something. The other girls hummed noncommittally.

Yun settled down to take a nap. At least the stone tile was cool and nice to sleep on. She dreamt of her mother and father who smiled and beckoned her closer. She did so laughing, but then they suddenly were wearing the Dai Li uniforms. They separated and a shadowy figure walked out. She held out her hand and her parents erupted into flames. They still staggered towards her. Yun tried to stumble back, but she was rooted in place. She felt them come closer, the fire burning her skin. They were about to embrace her when she woke up with a gasp. It was nighttime, the sky dark. She saw everyone already on their bed rolls, but out of the corner of her eye she saw someone sitting in the dark. She walked towards them and took a seat.

"Hey Katara," she said, announcing her presence.

"Hey," she said simply.

"It's kind of late to be up, isn't it," Yun asked, putting a hand on Katara's shoulder.

"I was waiting to see if Aang would get back," Katara sighed. Yun looked out at the night sky, seeing if she could spot a bison.

"Sometimes," Yun said, before pausing. "Sometimes, soul searching takes time." Katara looked at her and ruffled her hair.

"When did you get so wise," she teased.

"You know I'm only four months younger than you," Yun deadpanned.

"I know, I know. Sometimes, the way Sokka acts towards you is contagious," Katara explained.

"You know, I was always the baby of the family," Yun said, shifting to sit cross legged, before realizing she said too much. She quieted after that but luckily unfortunately Katara noticed.

"Baby of the family? You had a sibling," Katara exclaimed, turning to face Yun. She sighed, looking up at the stars. She didn't want to talk about it, but at the same time, she wanted to.

"Estranged. She kinda ran away from home. Haven't seen her since," Yun said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Oh, Yun. I'm so sorry," Katara said, putting her hand on Yun's shoulder and squeezing lightly.

"It's fine, honestly. I was never close to her. She was so . . . angry all the time. I could never get close to her without getting scared I'd make her mad in some sort of way."

Yun and Katara spent the rest of the night swapping stories about their parents. Yun told Katara about how they met in the Southern Islands, and how her father became the village chief. Katara told her about how her mother loved to tell Katara about how she and Hakoda met.

"I heard it about a thousand times," Katara said laughing.

Yun told her about how her father used to show her how to forge daggers, and how he used his firebending to control how the metal formed its shape.

"Your father's a firebender," Katara asked incredulously.

"Yeah, and my mama's a waterbender. The Southern Islands are where people run away to. To start a new life. So there's a whole bunch of people, all types of benders and non-benders. It's pretty cool."

"Sounds pretty cool," Katara agreed.

Katara told her about how Hakoda used to show Sokka how to fight with weapons and how her mother used to do some of the chores with her waterbending. She also told Yun about all the stories her mom would tell her about love and destiny. They talked late into the night and fell asleep to the first rays of sunshine peeking out. Yun woke up to hear Appa land on the stone tile.

Stretching and rubbing her eyes blearily, she got up and stumbled over to Appa.

"Hey buddy," Yun said, hugging Appa as best she could.

"I can see your glad to have us back," Aang chuckled as he floated down from Appa.

"Hi guys," Yun said in between a large yawn. Zuko looked at her and then at the still sleeping Katara.

"Did you wait for us all night," he asked. Yun stopped hugging Appa to look at him.

"Nah," she said. "We were just talking." Zuko scowled suspiciously before stalking over to where the rest of the group was beginning to wake up. Aang began walking Appa over as well, while Yun woke a sleeping Katara.

"Let's go, sleepyhead," she said, gently shaking Katara.

"What," she mumbled, squinting her eyes up at Yun.

"We fell asleep waiting for Aang," Yun explained, helping Katara to her feet. "They're here now. I think they want to show us what they learned." Sure enough, they were looking at Yun and Katara expectantly, waiting for them to join the others. Yun and Katara made their way over, taking a seat next to Sokka. Aang and Zuko began going through their forms.

"With this technique the dragons showed us," Aang said, while going through different movements. "Zuko and I will be unstoppable." When they finished, the group clapped. It was cool to look at.

"Yeah, that's a great dance you two learned there," Sokka commented.

"It's not a dance. It's a firebending form," Zuko said angrily.

"We'll tapdance our way to victory over the Fire Lord," Sokka said, riling Zuko up even further.

"It's a sacred form that happens to be thousands of years old," Zuko protested, stepping towards Sokka.

"Oh, yeah," Katara challenged. "What's your little form called?"  
"The Dancing Dragon," Zuko admitted, his shoulders hunching forward in defeat. That got a good laugh out of everyone.


	19. Extra

When everyone split up, Yun grabbed the journal Tigok had gotten her and went towards Aang.

"Hey Aang, tell me about the dragons," she said excitedly.

"Ummm, they were big," he said, his pitch rising towards the end of the sentence as if asking a question.

"That's all you got," Yun asked in disbelief. After meeting one of the most majestic creatures in the world, that was all he had to say?

"One was red, and the other was blue, and they breathed fire on me and Zuko," Aang said.

"That's all you got," Yun repeated in disbelief.

"Hey, I was scared I was going to get eaten or something," Aang protested. "Ask Zuko."

"Ask Zuko," Yun mocked grumpily, moving away from Aang.

"Real mature," he called out.

"Real mature," Yun mocked again. Sighing, she walked over to Zuko's room. Everyone got along better with Zuko now, except maybe Katara, but he still chose to stay in his room. Sometimes, dealing with Zuko was tiring; his anger really reminded Yun of her sister's. Were all firebenders angry all the time? General Iroh wasn't, so maybe not. And her father wasn't, so maybe it was just a teenage firebender thing. Yun knocked on the door. Zuko opened it cautiously.

"What do you want," he asked suspiciously. Yun wasn't sure what she had done to warrant such suspicion, but she soldiered on.

"Can you tell me about the dragons you met," she asked, clutching her journal to her chest. Zuko narrowed his eyes at her, but then opened the door and invited her in.

"What do you want to know," he asked, sitting on his bed. Yun didn't see anywhere else to sit, so she sat on the floor.

"Um," Yun said, stalling for time as she opened her journal. "Behavior, appearance, that sort of stuff."

"Why," he said. "I'm not supposed to tell anyone about the dragons' existence."  
"But you and Aang told the whole group already," Yun pointed out. Zuko's shoulders slumped forward.

"That's true, I guess," he mumbled.

"So you'll tell me," she asked.

"Why not Aang," Zuko asked.

"I already tried with him. He wasn't very specific," Yun said, trying to keep her exasperation at bay.

"Ok, fine," Zuko acquiesced. Then he started to describe the dragons. His whole demeanour changed. His back straightened, and he used his hands more. His whole face brightened up. Yun couldn't help but look at his face while he was talking. He looked so much younger without his almost permanent scowl. She could tell that meeting the dragons was life changing for him. She then remembered that she was supposed to be writing about his dragon findings in her journal. She started scribbling away. She then attempted to draw a dragon based on Zuko's description. She held it up to him.

"Is this somewhat how it looked like," she asked. Zuko studied it, a hand on his chin.

"Yeah, pretty much," he said. "How did you get it to look so accurate?"

"Well I have a theory that dragons and ocean dragons are somehow related, and Tigok already had a drawing of an ocean dragon on here. There are only a few differences that make an ocean dragon more suited to water. No wings or arms and legs being a few of them."

"Ocean dragons," Zuko scoffed. "There are no such thing." Yun's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Of course there are," she said. She moved onto the bed, sitting shoulder to shoulder with Zuko, and opened up her journal with vigor. "Look, here are the drawings and observations that Tigok made. He actually saw one, you know? And my father used to talk about them all the time." Yun shoved the journal into Zuko's hands and got up. She pointed at the journal and looked at Zuko. "You should look over the journal. You can give it back to me later in the day. After you've slept and all. And read it, obviously." With that, Yun left Zuko's room. She wandered back to the main area and saw Appa napping in a sunny spot. He looked so fluffy and warm and inviting that Yun couldn't help but cuddle up to him and take a nap.

She woke up to see Aang's face over hers.

"You're going to mess us your sleep schedule," he commented before walking away. Yun admitted he was probably right, but she wanted to nap with Appa and she did what she wanted. She got up to see that the sun was shining directly overhead. She cracked her back before helping Katara with chores. Together, they washed the bowls and clothes, letting Aang dry them and Sokka lay them out.

"I'm bored," Sokka whined, laying out clothes on the edge of the fountain. When he didn't get a response out of anyone, he huffed and crossed his arms.

"I'm bored," he whined louder. Then Zuko walked over, and a mischievous look appeared in Sokka's eyes. He rushed over to get his sword, and ran over to Zuko.

"Hey Zuko, up for a little swordbending," he asked excitedly.

"No. That isn't even a real word. Come on, Aang," Zuko said impatiently. Aang was about to leave his drying duty, when Sokka blocked his path.

"Aang still has stuff to do. Anyway, we are the only swordbenders here. Let's duel."

"I've been training with Master Piandao since I was a child," Zuko scoffed. "You don't stand a chance."

"Hey," Sokka exclaimed, pointing his finger at Zuko. "I trained with Master Piandao too." Zuko's eyes widened in shock.

"How long," he asked.

"A day," Sokka mumbled.

"What did you say," Zuko said, his eyes narrowing as he tried to hear what Sokka said.

"A day," Sokka sulked. Zuko actually let out a short bark of laughter.

"And you think you can beat me," he asked.

"Well, Master Piandao said that Sokka was the most worthy man that he had ever trained. And if he kept training, he would become better than Master Piandao himself, so there," Yun said, defending Sokka. Sokka grinned at her and then straightened up his shoulders.

"Zuko, you leave me no choice," he said gravely. "I challenge you to a swordbending kai. . . do you get it? It's like an agni kai, but with swords."

"There is no such thing," Zuko started before he was cut off by Katara's death glare. 'Just go along with it', her look said. Zuko then turned to see that Sokka had turned his puppy eyes on Zuko. Yun struggled to hold back her laughter. The sibling tag team was amazing to witness.

"Fine," Zuko sighed before going to get his broad swords.

"I want to join in, but I'm not a swordbender," Yun pouted.

"We can make posters," Aang said excitedly.

"I'm team Sokka," Katara and Yun said simultaneously. They looked at each other and grinned. They went to the corner to plan out their poster.

"We need a water nation sign and a sword," Katara reasoned.

"Why don't we make it so the water nation sign looks like it's holding a sword," Yun offered.

"Brilliant."

Katara and Yun went back to observe once both guys had gotten their weapons. Yun saw that Haru, The Duke, and Toph were Team Zuko, and Teo, Katara, and herself were Team Sokka.

"Go Sokka," Katara cheered, holding up their poster. Toph held up their Zuko poster, but The Duke had to help her show it right side up. Yun grinned; this was fun. Aang was refereeing.

"Alright guys, I want a good, clean swordbending match," Aang said, before whistling.

"There's no such thing," Zuko complained before rushing in.

"Let me show you how things are done down south," Sokka said, before his attack was dodged. Zuko then swiped at him, but as Sokka dodged, he fell backwards and into the dirt. Yun winced. Toph cheered, holding up her poster.

"Sokka, instead of just dodging, block with your sword," Yun advised.

"Rematch, now," Sokka said, getting up. However, he kept losing.

"Ouch," Teo remarked as Sokka fell on his face.

"Yeah," Yun hissed in sympathy.

"Why don't you just give up," Zuko said, triumphantly standing over Sokka. Yun had stopped giving tips at that point as well. There was an overwhelming skill difference. The number of times that Sokka stood back up was impressive, though.

"This coming from the guy who unsuccessfully hunted the Avatar for three years," Sokka taunted, getting up again.

"That was totally different!"

"Sure, 'cause it'll only take three minutes to defeat you," Sokka yelled, going in again. And again, he ended up on the floor. He got up, looked at his sword, and then dropped it. He took out his boomerang instead and threw it.

"Hey, no boomerangs in swordbending," Zuko protested before processing his words. 'I-I-I mean-." He was interrupted by the boomerang hitting him solidly in the back of the head, making him drop his swords. Katara stood up, shaking the poster in her hands wildly above her head.

"Zuko's still right. You cheated, so he still wins the match," Aang said.

"But I won the battle of words," Sokka cheered, while Zuko scowled at him.

"I want to fight too," Yun said, raising her hand. "I want to fight Zuko."  
"Do you have any training with swords," Zuko asked sceptically.

"I'm not a swordbender," Yun explained. "But I have daggers. I've been trained by Master Piandao too, you know."

"How long," Zuko said, picking up his swords.

"A few months."  
"I've trained under him for four years. I think you're better off fighting Sokka," Zuko scoffed.

"When I win against Sokka, will you fight me," Yun asked. Zuko nodded, and then sheathed his swords. Challenge accepted.

"Sokka, get over here," Yun said. Sokka shrugged and got his sword. He lifted it, read to fight before relaxing his hand.

"Okay guys," he said to their audience. "If you're Team Yun, sit on this side. If you are Team Sokka, sit over there." Everyone moved to the Team Yun side.

"Hey," Sokka said. Yun laughed.

"They just saw you get your butt kicked for the last few minutes," Yun said.

"I'll show them," Sokka said, grumbling. Aang was the referee once more. As soon as he whistled, Yun stepped forward, disarming Sokka in the blink of an eye. Turning around, she looked Zuko in the eyes and raised her eyebrows.

"Well," she asked. Sokka grabbed his sword and grumbled until he sat down with the rest of the audience. There were no teams this time. Everyone just watched. Zuko unsheathed his swords again and joined her in their ring.

"Well, at least I know you'll last a little longer than Sokka," he said. Sokka humphed loudly at that, crossing his arms. Aang refereed the match once again. When he whistled, Zuko and Yun began to circle. Yun never faced someone with dual wielding broadswords, so she wasn't sure how to start. Zuko took care of that problem for her, lunging with one of his swords drawn back. He swung down, forcing Yun to dodge to the side. After her sidestep, she went in, but had to stop short; she had forgotten about the other sword. Yun jumped back and then circled around the ring again. She needed to keep track of two differently moving entities. The best way to catch him off guard was go low; Yun was shorter than Zuko and needed to use that to her advantage. She ran and then slid in. However, Zuko's swords came down upon her in an x, forcing her to block with her daggers. Arms shaking, Yun held off the broadswords. With a quick twist of her hips and a jerk of her leg, she pulled one of Zuko's legs out of stance, forcing him to lose balance. With a push back at the broadswords, she offbalanced him. Zuko was off balance, while she was getting up, which meant that she finally had an opening. Unfortunately for her, just as she was getting up, Zuko swept her feet as he was falling. They both landed on their backs with a grunt. Yun leapt to her feet with Zuko getting to his milliseconds later.

He had no openings! His broadswords covered him from all sides, he could defend lower attacks, and his range limited her options. Yun would just have to create an opening. She charged forward, feinting a downward slash. Zuko raised one of his swords to block it, leaving his left side open. Quickly, she kicked the back of his knee, destabilizing him. Yun stepped forward and pivoted, pushing him forward while anchoring his left foot in place with hers. He fell forward with a heavy thump, the breath leaving his lungs with a pained gasp. Yun followed his descent, but more gracefully. She grabbed his left wrist, squeezing to make him let go of his sword. She held it behind him and straddles his lower back, making sure he stayed on the ground. With her other hand, she held her dagger close to the back of his neck.

"Do you surrender," she asked, breathing harshly. He made an aborted movement to lift his head off the ground, but Yun said, "I don't think that's a good idea. My blade's right there, behind your neck." Zuko growled in frustration.

"Do you surrender," Yun asked again. Zuko was silent for another moment, before he growled out a harsh, "Yes." Yun got off of him and sheathed her daggers. She then went back over to Zuko who was still lying on the ground, but he was now on his back. Yun held out an arm for him. Grabbing it, he got back on his feet.

"You're an amazing sword fighter," Yun said. Zuko scowled at her. "Honestly! You really are. There is no doubt in my mind that if we fought again, I would lose." That seemed to appease him; Zuko's scowl seemed less pronounced. Both of them turned when they heard clapping behind them. Sokka came up and enthusiastically flung a hand around Yun's shoulder.

"Excellent swordbending, both of you," he said.

"It isn't swordbending if I don't have a sword, is it," Yun asked. Sokka hummed thoughtfully at that, rubbing his chin. The others came up to congratulate her, and Zuko walked off. Yun watched him go but she was soon distracted by Toph thumping her on the back extremely hard.

Eventually, everyone calmed down and went to do their own thing. Yun roamed around the Temple with Teo, finding amazing rooms. One of them was full of mirrors, on every inch of the walls and ceiling. Teo wheeled around in awe, while Yun tried to get a good look at the back of her head. She had cut her hair herself with her daggers, and she was sure it was uneven.

"What are you doing," Teo asked, laughing.

"Trying to see the back of my head," Yun said, contorting in a way to see the hair on the back of her head. "I know it's uneven." Teo shook his head before doing another lap around the room.

"We should ask Aang what the room's for," he said.

Both of them headed out to the main area of the temple to find Aang. However, before they could find Aang, Sokka dragged Teo away for something. Yun shrugged and went to lie down beside Appa. She began to braid some of his fur, humming softly while doing so. She fell asleep with a hand firmly in Appa's fur and a gentle smile on her face.


	20. Book 3 Chapter 8: The Boiling Rock

Zuko seemed to get happier as he spent more time with the group.

"No one make tea like uncle, but hopefully I learned something," he said, pouring his tea into cups for each person in the group. "Would you like to hear uncle's favorite tea joke," he asked excitedly.

"Sure, I like jokes," The Duke said. Yun smiled at him; he was so cute.

"Bring it," Toph said.

"Well, I can't remember how it starts," Zuko said, handing out the tea cups. "But the punch line is 'leaf me alone, I'm bushed.'" He got no reaction out of the audience. They all just looked at him with a sympathetic or bored expression.

"Well, it's funnier when uncle tells it," Zuko said.

"Right," Katara said "Maybe that's because he remembers the whole thing." That got a few laughs from the crowd.

"It's nice to relax a little. It hardly ever happens," Toph said, holding out a hand for her teacup.

"Hey can I talk to you for a second," Sokka said to Zuko before walking away. Zuko paused for a moment before putting down his tray of teacups and following. The group looked amongst themselves, confused by the interruption.

"What's up with him," Toph asked. No one knew.

"I'm still stuck on that joke," Yun said. "Maybe it was talking about a teenage tea leaf not doing chores and then his mother nagging him?"

"Or maybe a tea leaf husband coming back from his tea shop and his tea leaf wife nagging him," Teo suggested.

"That would be terrible," Toph pointed out. "If there was a tea leaf who owned a tea shop, he would be boiling his fellow tea leaves." Haru gasped and covered The Duke's ears.

"I guess we'll never find out," Aang said, shrugging. They all pondered that for a moment before getting ready for bed. Yun set up her bed roll next to Toph's. She always set herself up next to somebody, as she was always cold and wanted leech warmth off of somebody else. She rotated people, so one person wouldn't get too annoyed at her.

"We could find out the joke if we found General Iroh," Yun said.

"Maybe," Toph murmured before she settled down to go to sleep. Yun did the same, shifting to get comfortable.

She woke up in the morning to the general sound of other people getting up. Yawning, she got ready for the morning. She then walked outside with Aang, Katara, and Toph. Katara found a piece of paper that Momo had been using as a blanket.

"What does it say," Toph asked.

"'Need more meat, gone fishing, back in a few days. Sokka and Zuko'," Katara said, squinting at the paper. Aang shrugged before yawning and going back inside to lie down.

"One more thing," Katara read from the paper. "'Aang, practice your firebending while I'm gone. Do twenty sets of fire fists and ten hot squats every time you hear a badger frog croak. Zuko.'"

"Nobody else has homework," he complained. However, he diligently set out to do his hot squats. Katara flipped over the paper.

"Oh, another thing," she said. "'Yun, I finished your journal. It's in my room. Zuko. Again.'"

"You gave your journal to Zuko," Toph asked.

"Just for him to read. He said ocean dragons weren't real, so I wanted to show him the journal," Yun explained, before heading over to Zuko's room. She knocked on instrict before realizing that he wasn't there. Gingerly opening the door, she walked inside. She found the journal on his bed. She intended to get the journal and leave quickly, but her curiosity got the best of her. All the times she was here, she never really looked around. It was pretty sparse, but the one thing that stood out was the framed portrait of his uncle. She traced the frame with her fingertips. She hoped that Zuko would find and reconcile with his uncle one day. Quickly picking up her journal, she went out of Zuko's room and softly closed the door behind her. She flipped through Tigok's notes, looking at the messy scrawl, and then she turned to her notes, filled with illustrations and side notes in the margins of the small bound book. It felt nice to have it again. However, the fact that Zuko had it and read it felt nice. It was always nice to share her knowledge and Tigok's hard work with others.

Yun walked out of Zuko's room and gently shut the door. She then wandered over to the common area and began doing the chores of the day.

While washing clothes, she huffed. She was stuck here doing chores while other people did interesting things. It really wasn't fair. She didn't see Aang who was supposed to dry the clothes, so she just hung them up and wandered over to Song who was waddling over a napping Appa. Humming, Yun got an answering warble from Song. She glided onto Yun's shoulder.

"Do you remember Suki and the others," Yun asked Song as she wandered around the temple. Song hooted in reply.

"You should, Song. Suki was the one to find you as a baby, you know. You were super small and cute, and Suki found you first. Then, me and the Kiyoshi warriors helped look after you, because Suki's mom was allergic to you. I remember that you liked Yura so much, because she would bring you fish, and I was so jealous of her, but you always followed me home. I couldn't be as good as the other Kiyoshi warriors in anything, but at least you liked me more for some reason. I don't know why you chose me, but I'm really glad you did." Song cooed in her ear, nuzzling it softly with her muzzle.

"Remember when Suki said that we had to help you catch a fish by yourself so we went to the stream? And we put you by the stream and you fell in. We all started panicking. I'm pretty sure Kena screamed and I was crying, but Suki jumped into the stream to save you, and then we all jumped in. I remember that Auntie was super mad at me. She made me go to bed without lunch or dinner. But I managed to get you some jerky left in the cupboard." Yun sighed and looked up at the cloudless sky. She missed Kiyoshi island and Suki and all the Kiyoshi warriors. She had made so many friends while travelling with everybody, but sometimes, she missed the simplicity of being part of a solid group on Kiyoshi island. People kept going and leaving, and Yun was scared that one day, one of them wouldn't come back. She was just tired of people leaving her.

Yun quickly shook her head. That was such a selfish way of thinking. The world didn't revolve around her. This was about winning a war, not preserving her feelings. Sighing deeply, she walked around the temple more with Song on her shoulder. She was feeling more pensive, more nostalgic, and she wanted to be alone with her somberness.

Whistling tunes and waiting for Song to copy them, Yun wandered through rooms, wondering how life would have been in this temple before Firelord Sozin. She then started thinking about life in the Southern Islands. How would she have turned out if the Fire Nation had never destroyed her home.

"I would probably be a lot whinier than I am now," Yun wondered aloud. "Mama and Papa were always babying me like there was no tomorrow."

Song whistled a tune, and Yun rubbed her stomach with her index finger, eliciting a pleased coo out of her cat owl.

"You know, Song, that I was quite chubby when I was younger. Papa told me that Mama would just keep feeding me. And of course, I just kept eating. You would know. You're looking quite chubby right now, Song. Does that mean now I am the one babying you?" There was no response from Song, who was content just resting on Yun's shoulder.

"Chubby, chubby, chubby," Yun absently sing songed

"What are you doing in this thing? What happened to the war balloon," Katara asked, looking at Sokka and Zuko exiting a Fire Nation warship. Yun could only start, slack jawed at how big the warship was from up close.

"It kinda got destroyed," Zuko said, grinning triumphantly.

"Sounds like a crazy fishing trip," Aang commented.

"Did you at least get some good meat," Toph asked.

"I did," Sokka said. "The best meat of all. The meat of friendship and fatherhood." Suki, Hakoda, and someone else got off the ship.

"I'm new. What's up, everybody," he said waving.

"Dad," Katara said, her voice shaking with emotion. She ran over to hug Hakoda.

"What is going on, where did you go," she asked Sokka.

"We kind of went to a Fire Nation prison." Katara then pulled him in for a hug. Yun watched them with a smile.

"Seriously, you guys didn't find any meat," Toph asked.

Yun startled to find a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see Suki.

"Long time no see," Suki said, smiling at Yun. Yun hugged Suki as tight as she could, wrapping her arms and legs around her.

"You're such a purple pentapus. Glad to see you haven't changed," Suki laughed. Sokka walked up to them.

"Is Yun okay," he asked, poking at her form still wrapped around Suki. Suki laughed again and rubbed Yun's back.

"Yeah, she did this to me all the time when she was younger," she said.

"I missed you," Yun whimpered.

"I know, I know," Suki said. "How about we catch up tomorrow. It's late now, and I need to sleep for at least fourteen hours." Yun untangled herself from Suki and stood up straight.

"Yeah, of course," she said. Suki ruffled her hair, and Sokka led her to where they slept. Yun stayed behind. She noticed that Zuko did too.

"You're not tired," she asked him.

"No, not yet," he said.

"So, you broke into a Fire Nation prison," Yun said, looking at him. The grin returned to his face. "Want to tell me about it?" Zuko did. They sat in the warship, and Zuko told her all about their prison break, with occasional interruptions.

"You didn't have a solid plan to get out of prison," Yun exclaimed. Zuko just glared at her and kept talking.

"Why was Suki held in the prison," Yun asked. Zuko shrugged. He then continued telling the story.

"Wait, so you guys were going to get captured but your girlfriend saved your butt," Yun said slowly, trying to process everything Zuko told her. "Wait, not. Not your girlfriend. You dumped her over a letter, so ex-girlfriend. Wow. That's just . . . wow." Zuko pulls at his hair angrily.

"I don't know-it's all just so messed up. I didn't want her to be labeled a traitor too, okay?" Yun pulled her knees up to her chest, and rested her head on them. She turned her to look at Zuko.

"Maybe you just need to talk to her. Once the war is over," she reasoned.

"She's not going to take me back," Zuko sulked.

"Take you back or not, you still need to talk stuff over. My mom and dad did it all the time. After they argued, they would spend some time away, and then they would talk. And that's how my father dealt with arguments within the village too. He would make the two parties still down and talk about their problems."

"Wow, my father told my mother that she would have to help kill my grandfather so that my father would spare me, and then he banished her," Zuko said. Yun blinked a few times, unsure of how to respond.

"Oof," she said.

"Yeah," he sighed into his hands.

"Well, you have a chance to be better than your father. I mean, you already have by helping the Avatar and also helping Sokka get his dad back. You have a chance in another way. I'm not making any sense. I'm so tired I can't think properly. I think it's time to go to bed." Yun got to her feet and started walking out of the warship, before Zuko grabbed her wrist.

"Thanks," he said. Yun smiled.

"No problem," she said. "And thanks for helping Sokka and Suki. Oh, also for returning my journal."

"Yeah," he said, still sitting down.

"Make sure you get some sleep tonight. Goodnight, Zuko," Yun said before making her way over to her bed roll. She pulled it over to Katara and settled down. She looked up at the ceiling of the Western Air Temple. It felt nice talking about her parents; she couldn't wait for them to meet all the amazing friends she had.


	21. Book 3 Chapter 9: The Southern Raiders

Yun awoke to dust falling on her face. She leapt up, the sound of Fire Nation explosives familiar. Aang quickly closed the air temple walls, sealing them off from the outside world. Yun hurriedly started packing things, avoiding falling debris from the ceiling. Suddenly, Zuko ran towards Katara.

"Watch out," he cried, pushing Katara out of the way of a falling part of the ceiling. Seeing how the ceiling was crumbling, Yun made sure that Teo and The Duke were nearer to the walls, where the ceiling was holding up. Toph and Haru earthbended a hole in the wall for them to escape. Yun ushered The Duke to go through first. They had a duty to protect the youngest. Yun entered the tunnel after she made sure Teo made it through as well. Aang was struggling with Appa, who clearly did not want to go into the tunnel.

"What are you doing," Aang asked Zuko, who wasn't making a move towards the tunnel. In fact, he was going in the opposite direction, towards the Fire Nation warships.

"I'll hold them off," he said, before heading off towards the warships.

"Zuko, no," Aang called out, before Sokka and Katara came to pull him back towards the tunnel. They all tried pulling Appa into the tunnel.

"I can't get him to go in there. Appa hates tunnels," Aang said. Appa clearly was straining against his lead.

"Aang, there is no way we can fly out of here," Katara warned.

"We have to find a way," he replied.

"We need to split up," Sokka said. "Take the tunnel and get to the stolen airship."

"No," Katara said firmly. "The Fire Nation can't separate our family again."

"It'll be okay. It's not forever," Hakoda reassured her.

Yun made sure that The Duke and Teo were safely making their way into the tunnel. Making sure The Duke was safe, Yun turned to face Teo, not wanting to say goodbye. Teo gently pulled Yun down and kissed her on the cheek. "Stay safe," he said and then turned around and went deeper into the tunnel.

"Come on, Yun," Sokka said, the rest of the group already having boarded. Yun looked at Teo's retreating figure.

"You better stay safe too," she yelled before she ran and climbed onto Appa's saddle.

Toph cleared out a path that Appa could fly through.

"There's an awful lot of fire in that general direction," Suki pointed out.

"We'll get through it," Aang said. "Let's go."

Appa flew out, a layer of rocks protecting them from fire. Yun watched as they flew right past Azula. She looked as if she was about to retaliate, but then she turned around. Seeing what she was looking at, the group looked in shock as Zuko appeared on another warship.

"We're going to have to wait for him," Yun said.

"Yeah," Aang said, preparing to weave Appa around fire blasts. Yun drew out the water from her water skins. Time to get to work. Katara and Yun worked together to deflect blasts of fire as Aang steered Appa. Yun then saw the explosion on top of the airship.

"Zuko's falling," she called out. With a sharp pull of his right arm, Aang steered Appa towards Zuko. Katara grabbed his arm and pulled him onto the saddle. They all watched Azula fall through the air.

"She's not going to make it," Zuko breathed out in disbelief. Azula then sent out a blast of fire with her feet, propelling her towards the cliff's edge. She managed to hang onto it, looking at the group with revenge hungry eyes.

"Of course she did," Zuko said, before looking away. Appa kept flying until Aang found a place for them to set up camp.

"Camping," Aang said cheerfully. "It really feels like old times again, huh?"

"If you want it to really feel like old times, I can chase you around a while and try to capture you," Zuko joked. That got some laughs from the group. Yun could tell Katara wasn't very amused though.

"To Zuko," Sokka said, raising his cup. "Who knew after all those times he tried to snuff us out, today he'd be our hero." They all raised their cups except Zuko and Katara. Toph even punched Zuko in the shoulder.

"I'm touched. I don't deserve this," Zuko said.

"Yeah, no kidding," Katara said, glaring at him. She then got up and walked away from the group.

"What's with her," Sokka asked.

"I wish I knew," Zuko said, getting up to go follow her.

"What's with him," Sokka asked. The group was silent. The celebratory mood was thoroughly ruined. Yun decided to just go to bed. No one seemed to be in the mood for much socializing. Sighing, she went into her separate tent. She already missed sleeping close to other people. After tossing and turning, she finally fell asleep.

She saw a Fire Nation soldier step out of the darkness, helmet covering their face. Yun could feel the heat radiating off of them. They then took off their helmet, and Yun gasped. It was her sister. Her hands trembling, Yun reached for her sister's face but pulled away as the heat seared her fingers, the burning sensation traveling up her arms.

"Ilak," Yun called out. "Ilak, what are you doing here?"

"I'm finishing my job," she growled before bending a blast of fire at Yun. Yun tried to block with her bending but found she couldn't. She was too slow. Suddenly, she found herself shrinking, smaller and smaller. She tried to run away, but she saw another gigantic blast come towards her. It almost looked like a comet, hurtling to kill her. She jerked awake. Feeling the frantic beat of her heart and the sweat beading on her forehead, Yun sat for a moment, taking deep breaths. Peaking outside her tent, she saw it was almost daybreak, the dark of night gradually giving way to a new morning.

Her mind raced. It had been a while since she had dreamt of her sister. The feelings of guilt and anger associated with her came rushing back. It was probably due to the fact that she had been thinking about her again. Yun sighed, rubbing her face wearily. There was no point in going to sleep again; she didn't want to dream again.

She decided to go check on Appa. On her way over to Appa, she saw Zuko sitting on a rock directly in front of Katara's tent. Walking over, Yun stopped a little behind Zuko.

"What are you doing," she asked. Zuko quickly turned around, eyes wide in shock. Yun waited for an explanation, eyebrow raised.

"Nothing," Zuko growled, turning back around to face Katara's tent.

"Doesn't look like nothing," Yun said, planting herself down on the same rock.

"It has nothing to do with you,Yun," Zuko said, moving away from Yun.

"Okay, then what do you want to talk about," Yun said.

"Nothing," Zuko snapped.

"You want to talk about nothing and just stare at Katara's tent until she wakes up," Yun asked incredulously. "That is kinda creepy."

"Yun-," Zuko said between gritted teeth before Yun interrupted him, feeling an almost hyperactive rush of energy after her dream. She felt words bubbling up with no filter to stop them, tumbling out of her mouth like hyperactive toddlers with no adult supervision.

"Like really _really_ is creepy. Like stalker boyfriend levels of creepy. One time my sister had a boyfriend that she dumped and then he stalked her all around the village for months before she told my parents and then my mom was upset, because she wasn't supposed to date, and even if she was allowed, she definitely shouldn't have been dating that guy. Let me tell ya, that guy just had something off about hi-," she rambled quickly, her tongue almost tripping over her words.  
"You have a sister," Zuko interrupted her. Yun paused, realizing that she let that slip. The dream must have shaken her up more than she thought. The thought of her sister was like being doused in cold water. Her energy promptly drained out of her, leaving her tired and empty.

"I made that up," Yun lied. "I just wanted something to talk about." Like a predator with a prey, Zuko caught onto her lie.

"You're lying," he said. "So you have a sister. Where is she?"

"I'm going to check on Appa," Yun said, about to get up. She didn't like this side of Zuko, razor sharp edges intended to hurt others. Zuko caught her wrist and pulled her back down. Yun fell back onto the rock, hissing in pain.

"No, you're the one who wanted to talk about things," Zuko said. "So tell me about your sister."

"I don't know, okay," Yun hissed, trying to free her arm from Zuko's grasp. She could tell his frustration with Katara was coloring this interaction with her.

"You don't like your sister, do you? I can tell from the way that you don't talk about her. Not so nice as you say you are, huh," Zuko pressed.

"I never said I was nice," Yun protested. She had never said that. Ever.

"You and your group think you guys are perfect, that you can do no wrong, never feel the wrong thing," Zuko said. "But you do, don't you. You hide from them."

"You are part of the group now," Yun said, not able to reply to the other stuff.

"See, that's what I mean. You're hiding again," Zuko said as his voice began to rise in frustration. "You are trying so hard to be good that you don't even have a personality. You don't dare step out of line. You are hiding yourself!"

"No, I'm not," Yun said.

"Yes you are. You hate your sister. Like I do with Azula. What did she do to you, huh," Zuko said, challengingly. Yun's heart began to beat faster and her breaths began to shorten. Zuko noticed the trembling of her hand from where he held Yun's wrist. Surprised, his grip loosened, and Yun wrenched her wrist away from him.

"I'm going to check on Appa," she said shakily. Stumbling over to Appa, she said next to him as she watched the sunrise. She leaned on him, shaky hands gripping his fur as she took deep breaths. Appa lowed, concerned, but Yun just sat next to him and tried to forget everything. Crossing her legs and clearing her mind, she meditated. Aang came a few hours later, carrying some food for Appa. Yun opened her eyes, saw Aang, and waved.

"What are you doing up so early," Aang said.

"Couldn't sleep," she said.

"Are you feeling more tired now," Aang asked. "We weren't planning on doing anything today, so I think you could get away with sleeping 'til lunch."  
"But my sleep schedule," Yun half-heartedly protested.

"It's only one day," Aang said, smiling softly. Yun got to her feet and stumbled into her tent again. Hopefully, she wouldn't get anymore nightmares.

When she woke up around noon, she spent the day avoiding Zuko. It was actually quite easy, because he was doing the same thing. Yun hung out with Toph, which included lying around and not doing anything. She tried her best not to think about her parents or her sister or stupid Zuko. What a jerk. She went to bed frustrated and still a little shaken. When she woke up the next day, she noticed some people were gone.

"Where's Katara," she asked.

"She went on a field trip with Zuko," Toph explained.

"Why," Yun asked. Toph shrugged.

"Sokka, why did Katara go on a field trip," Yun said after finding him trying to teach Momo tricks.

"Zuko found out who killed our mother, and now they are going to find him," Sokka said, trying to get Momo to flip on command. Yun scowled at the mention of Zuko. When Sokka looked at Yun, he actually did a double take.

"Are you mad at Zuko or Katara or something," Sokka asked.

"No, why do you ask," Yun spat out. Sokka paused for a second, wide eyed.

"I've never seen you frown so hard in all the time I have met you," he commented. That shocked her out of her scowl.

"I've never frowned before," she asked in disbelief, touching her face as if to feel her frown.

"I mean you've been annoyed, but never straight up scowl-y mad, you know," Sokka said. Yun was pretty sure she had scowled at Sokka before, but never with the level of frustration she had now.

"It's all because Zuko's a huge jerk!" With that, Yun let out a frustrated growl and stalked off. She didn't usually get frustrated with people. And she never argued. She couldn't argue. It wasn't like anyone in the group gave her a reason to, anyways.

She was never talking to Zuko again. For as long as she lived. Yun promised herself that. How could he keep asking her all that stuff when she clearly didn't want to talk about it. Yun angrily wiped away tears from her eyes. Great, now she was crying from frustration. Taking deep breaths, she found Aang meditating. He opened her eyes as she approached.

"Can I join you," she asked. Aang smiled and patted the spot next to him. Yun sat cross legged next to him and closed her eyes. She took measured breaths, feeling her chest expand and contract, the wind blowing through her hair. Settling her mind, she pushed her thoughts to the background and worked on keeping a clean mind, free from anger or distractions. She couldn't get mad. She had to stop those feelings, stop them from emerging. Never again.

After sitting for a few hours with Aang, they both stopped meditating. They then went over waterbending forms. Yun found that spending time with Aang calmed her down, allowing her anger to recede.

"Are you feeling better," Aang said as the sun inched closer to the horizon.

"You could tell," Yun asked sheepishly.

"Yeah, a little," Aang shrugged, keeping the water stream between them going. Yun formed it into a dragon when it reached her, but it dissolved back into a simple water stream when it reached Aang again.

Yun then saw Appa in the distance.

"Katara's back," Yun commented. She wondered if Katara went through with it. Aang dropped the water stream and ran towards the beach. Yun slunk away to hang out with Suki. She wasn't ready to see Zuko again. She spent the rest of the evening on the beach, seeing the last bit of day turn into night. She looked at the night sky, the stars twinkling. She thought of her parents, under the same sky as her. Was it nighttime for them, or could they feel the warmth of the sun?

Yun took off her shoes and walked along the water's edge, letting the cool water lap at her feet. Each step she took, she dug her toes into the sand, disrupting the smoothness of it. Yun saw a figure walking towards her in the darkness, his figure illuminated by the full moon.

"Sokka," Yun asked, squinting to see who it was.

"Uh, not exactly." Recognizing the voice, Yun pivoted and started walking back to camp. She really didn't want to deal with him right now. However, she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. She knocked the hand off her shoulder and glared at Zuko.

"I was looking for you," he said. Yun continued to glare; her face was actually hurting from frowning so hard. Zuko rubbed his face with his hand before continuing. "Look, I was wrong. Before. You know. . ." Yun still refused to speak. In fact, she was about to turn around and leave when Zuko growled in frustration and then started to speak.

"I'm sorry that I yelled at you, okay? And that I said you weren't nice. And I'm sorry I brought up your sis-, stuff you don't want to talk about. I'm sorry I was a jerk." Yun looked at Zuko's face, twisted with misery, and all her remaining anger drained away. She had a day to let out her anger, and besides, she had done the same thing, forcing him to talk when he didn't want to.

"Yeah. I'm sorry too," Yun said. Zuko looked at her with confusion.

"Why are you apologizing," he asked bemused.

"Well, I also kinda forced you to talk when you didn't want to," Yun explained. "I was acting . . . overly familiar, I guess." Zuko shook his head.

"I like that."

"That I'm overly familiar?"  
"I guess," Zuko shrugged. "I like talking. With you, I mean."

"Except for this morning," Yun said.

"Well, I guess- I mean no, not really, it wasn't-," Zuko stuttered, before Yun interrupted.

"From now on, when you tell me you don't want to talk, I shall respect that. While I am a master at some things, I'm not a master of body language, you know?"

"What are you the master at," Zuko asked curiously.

"Love, obviously," Yun said. Zuko snorted.

"Hey," she said indignantly. "Here's a taste of my powers. Aang is in love with Katara."

"Everyone with eyes can see that," Zuko said, rolling his eyes. They both start to walk along the shoreline together as Yun tried to prove her mastery of love.

"Well, do you know that Toph has a crush on Sokka," she said.

"Yeah," Zuko said.

"Yeah? What about the fact that Katara likes Aang," Yun said, panicking as she tried to prove her skills. Zuko was a tough opponent.

"It's obvious you're just guessing at this point," Zuko said.

"Well, obviously if you're like that, it's going to be impossible to prove my skills, Zuko," Yun pouted.

"Or maybe you're just not as good as you think you are," he retorted. Yun shoved him for that. He stumbled a bit before walking beside her again. Zuko then let out a huge yawn.

"Maybe it's time we go to bed," Yun said, chuckling. They both walked to camp, and Yun reached her tent first.

"Good night, Zuko." He looked as if he was going to say something, but he just nodded and went inside his tent.

Yun stayed awake in her tent a little longer. Maybe, she should talk about her sister more. Maybe, she should think about her sister more. After all, it was her fault that their parents were missing.


	22. Book 3 Chapter 10: The Ember Island

Yun walked in from her bath to see Katara and Toph watching Zuko and Aang practice firebending. She couldn't help but look at Zuko's abs while toweling her hair. Wondering if she would ever get abs, Yun sat down next to Katara. It was frustrating that no matter what she did, Yun could never get more than a singular vertical line on her torso. Now, with much lazing around and very little training, she had a little pudge again around her hips again. She sighed deeply in disappointment.

"Isn't it weird that we're hiding from the Fire Lord in his own house," Katara commented, looking at the hallway that they were sitting in. Yun admitted that the house was beautiful, even if it belonged to an evil dictator. The woodwork and glassless windows of the hallway leant itself an open and inviting feel.

"I told you," Zuko said, resting from his practice with Aang. "My father hasn't come here since our family was actually happy, and that was a long time ago. It's the last place they'd look for us." Yun remembered what Zuko had told her about his family and his banishment. Her thoughts were interrupted by Sokka and Suki rushing in.

"You guys are not gonna believe this. There's a play about us," Sokka exclaimed, brandishing a poster.

"We were just in town and we found this poster," Suki explained.

"What? How is that possible," Katara asked.

"Listen to this. 'The Boy in the Iceberg is a new production from playwright Puan Tin, who scoured the globe gathering information on the Avatar from the south pole to the heart of Ba Sing Se. His sources include singing nomads, pirates, prisoners of war, and a surprisingly knowledgeable merchant of cabbage,'" Sokka read.

"'Brought to you by the acclaimed Ember Island players,'" Suki finished reading.

"Ugh," Zuko scoffed in disgust, his back slouching. "My mother used to take us to see them. They butchered _Love Amongst the Dragons_ every year."

"Sokka, do you think it's a good idea for us to attend a play about ourselves," Katara asked.

"Come on. A day at the theater? This is the kind of time-wasting nonsense I've been missing," Sokka said.

"I agree with Sokka," Yun said, her hand raised. "Besides, no one is going to think we are so self-absorbed that we're watching a play about ourselves. It's the perfect place to be!"

"Yeah," Sokka exclaimed, pointing at Yun.

The rest of the group sighed. They were going to end up going.

They ended up going.

"Why are we sitting in the nosebleed section? My feet can't see a thing from up here," Toph complained. Katara assured her that she would make sure that Toph knew what was happening. Yun wiggled in her seat excitedly.

"I wonder if I'm going to be in the play," Yun wondered. Sokka ruffled her hair.

"I bet you will be," he said before snuggling up next to Suki. Yun definitely felt like a third wheel on their bench. Then the curtain lifted and Yun focused on what was happening on stage. There were two characters who bore some resemblance to Sokka and Katara. Kind of. They were rowing a boat. Sokka got excited, seeing his character on stage.

"Sokka, my only brother, we constantly roam these icy south pole seas, and yet, never do we find anything fulfilling," Katara's actress said, laying a hand on her head dramatically.

"All I want is a full feeling in my stomach. I'm starving," Sokka's actor said, looking into the crowd for a reaction. He got some from the crowd but not from Katara or Sokka. Their mouths were open in shock and disappointment.

"Is food the only thing on your mind," Katara's actress asked.

"Well, I'm trying to get it out of my mind and into my mouth. I'm starving!"

"This is pathetic," Sokka hissed. "My jokes are way funnier than this." Toph just laughed.

"I think he's got you pegged."

"Every day, the world awaits a beacon to guide us, yet none appears. Still, we cannot give up hope, for hope is all we have, and we must never relinquish it, even to our dying breath," Katara's actress, who Yun decided to call Hopeful Katara, said. She then started sobbing. Yun, Suki, Sokka, and Toph snickered at what was happening on stage.

"Well that's just silly. I don't sound like that," Katara protested, her arms crossed.

"Oh man, this writer's a genius," Toph said, delighted at what she was hearing.

Then a bright light shone on stage, the silhouette of Aang in an iceberg appearing.

"There appears to be a boy frozen in ice, perhaps for one hundred years," Hopeful Katara said. "But who? Who is the boy in the iceberg?"

Hopeful Katara then "waterbended" which included yelling waterbend and a slashing arm movement. Out came Aang's actor. Yun actually snorted. Was Aang's actor a-.

"Who are you frozen boy," Hopeful Katara said, interrupting Yun's thoughts. Aang's actor, now dubbed Female Aang, laughed a high pitched laugh.

"I'm the Avatar, silly, here to spread joy and fun," Female Aang said.

"Wait, is that a woman playing me," Aang asked in disbelief. Yun patted him on the shoulder comfortingly. Then 'Appa' appeared.

"An Airbender," Hopeful Katara said. "My heart is so full of hope, it's making me tearbend." She then proceeded to wail, clutching onto Female Aang's leg.

"My stomach is so hungry, it's making me tearbend," Hungry Sokka said, grabbing onto Female Aang's other leg. "I need meat."

"But look over there. Is that a platter of meaty dumplings," Female Aang asked.

"What? Where," Hungry Sokka asked, looking around. Female Aang laughed and laughed.

"Did I mention? I'm also an incurable prankster."

"I don't do that," Aang protested. "That's not what I'm like. And I'm not a woman." Toph laughed.

"Oh, they nailed you, twinkletoes." Then Zuko appeared. Yun had almost forgotten how he looked with that hairstyle.

"Prince Zuko, You must try this cake," 'General Iroh' said.

"I don't have time to stuff my face. I must capture the Avatar to regain my honor," Dramatic Zuko yelled. Yun was quite impressed with this actor; his acting was spot on.

Yun watched as the play moved through the different adventures they had. When they were on Kiyoshi Island, Suki and Yun looked at each other excitedly across Sokka. It was their time to appear.

"Does this dress make my butt look fat," Hungry Sokka asked Suki's actress. Yun could hear Suki giggling, but she didn't take her eyes off the stage. It was her time. As Female Aang, Hopeful Katara, and Hungry Sokka were planning on leaving Kiyoshi Island, a five year old boy walks on to stage, rubbing his eye. Yun was confused. Had a child gotten loose and wandered onto stage? She looked around for parents.

"Can I join you on your journey," the boy asked. "I gotta find my mommy and dada."

"Who is that," Yun whispered to Sokka and Suki who were grinning at Yun.

"That's you," Suki said, cooing. Yun stood up and pointed at the boy.

"That's not me! That's a five year old boy," she said over the coos and aws of the audience. Everyone in their group was grinning at her. Yun slumped back down in her seat in defeat. Sokka reached towards her cheeks to pinch them, but Yun bit him.

"Ow, you bit me," Sokka cried out. Yun just scowled at him. She watched as they got through Omashu, met Bumi, and battled pirates with the scowl still on her face. Seeing Hopeful Katara carry that kid through the scenes reminded her of how useless she was back then. It was just embarrassing to watch.

She did sit up to watch the scene where Dramatic Zuko captured Female Aang and the Blue Spirit came and saved him (her?). It was interesting watching it, knowing Zuko and the Blue Spirit were indeed the same person. She saw Jet, the Great Divide, and Sokka with Yue. When Female Aang in the Avatar state destroyed the Fire Nation fleet at the North Pole, the curtains closed for intermission. Yun breathed a sigh of relief. The group went to the balcony area of the building. Yun slumped onto a step. That was a lot to process.

"So far this intermission is the best part of the play," Zuko said.

"Apparently, the playwright thinks I'm an idiot who makes bad jokes about meat all the time," Sokka ranted.

"Yeah, you tell bad jokes about plenty of other topics too," Suki teased.

"Ooooo, burn," Yun said.

"At least the Sokka actor kinda looks like you. That woman playing the Avatar doesn't resemble me at all," Aang said.

"I don't know," Toph said. "You are more in touch with your feminine side than most guys." Aang growled in frustration, standing up, when Katara interrupted.

"Relax, Aang. They're not accurate portrayals. It's not like I'm a preachy crybaby who can't resist giving over emotional speeches about hope all the time." No one said a word. Katara looked around, and then said, "What?"

"At least you aren't a five year old," Yun groused, her chin resting on her hands. Zuko snickered, but quickly quieted down when Yun glared at him.

"Listen, folks. The playwright did his research. I know it must hurt, but what you're seeing on that stage is the truth." They all headed into the theatre again, some more reluctantly than others.

Toph was excited. After all, it was her turn to appear. When she finally appeared, it was a giant hulking, muscled man. Everyone laughed. He looked nothing like Toph.

"My name's Toph," Buff Toph said, pointing at himself. "Because it sounds like tough, and that's just what I am." He then flexed. That muscle tone was unbelievable.

"Wait a minute," Toph said. "I sound like a guy. A really buff guy."

"Well, what you hear up there is the truth. It hurts, doesn't it," Katara asked smugly. Toph grinned.

"Are you kidding me? I wouldn't have cast it any other way. At least it's not a flying bald lady or a baby." Aang and Yun both scowled.

"So, you're blind," Female Aang asked, waving her hand in front of Buff Toph's face. He chuckled.

"I can see you doing that," he said. He raised his arms. "I can see everything you see, except I don't see like you do. I release a sonic wave from my mouth." He then proceeded to scream. Yun covered her ears, but she still could hear the scream in deafening volume.

"There, I got a pretty good look at you," he said. Everyone clapped.

Then Yun saw Zuko and General Iroh splitting up, the group facing Azula, Azula drilling into the wall of Ba Sing Se, and Aang and the group with Jet under Lake Laogai. Yun shuddered when she saw the set. It wasn't accurate, but it brought back bad memories she would rather remain hidden.

"Did Jet just die," Yun asked, horrified.

"It wasn't very clear," Sokka commented. Then came the scene.

"I have to admit, Prince Zuko, I really do find you attractive," Hopeful Katara said. Yun winced.

"You don't have to make fun of me," Dramatic Zuko said, pouting.

"But I mean it. I've had eyes for you since the day you first captured me."

"Wait! I thought you were the Avatar's girl," Dramatic Zuko said. Hopeful Katara laughed.

"The Avatar? Why, he's like a little brother to me. I certainly don't think of him in a romantic way. Besides, how could he ever find out about this," she said, hugging Dramatic Zuko. Yun winced, seeing Aang's back stiffen. Yun watched as Aang got up. Sokka hung over the edge of the seat asked for some food, and Yun punched him in the shoulder for being so inconsiderate.

Yun then watched the scene where Zuko betrayed his uncle for his sister. She knew how badly he felt about that, and for it to be shoved in his face again like that had to hurt. She then saw how Azula managed to almost single-handedly take over Ba Sing Se. She was truly terrifying. Female Aang appeared, going into the Avatar state. However, Azula came in and shot lightning at her. It was scary to watch even in an exaggerated adaptation like this. From what she had seen and what Katara had told her, Aang's heart had stopped for a few minutes. They could have lost him. The curtains closed again, signaling second intermission.

"Every time there's a battle, you guys barely make it out alive," Suki commented, smirking. "I mean you guys lose a lot."

"You're one to talk, Suki," Sokka said, meaning towards Suki. "Didn't Azula take you captive?" Suki pouted.

"Are you trying to get on my bad side," Suki pouted.

"I'm just saying," Sokka said, his hands up in surrender. Yun just shook her head. How did Sokka even manage to get a girlfriend as cool as Suki?

"Does anyone know where Aang is," Katara asked, walking in.

"He left to get me fire gummies, like, ten minutes ago, and I'm still waiting," Sokka exclaimed.

"I'm gonna check outside," Katara said.

"Suki, can you get me backstage," Sokka asked excitedly. "I want to give some jokes to the actor me."

"I'm an elite warrior who's trained for many years in the art of stealth," Suki said, an intense expression on her face. She then smiled. "I think I could get you backstage."

"Can you get me backstage too," Yun asked.

"Yeah, let's do it," Suki said, slinging her arm around Yun's shoulder. With some careful maneuvering, Suki, Sokka, and Yun make their way to backstage with no problems. Sokka made his way over to his actor, while Yun looked around for the young child. She spotted him and walked over.

"Who are you," he asked, crossing his arms.

"I just really like your performance," Yun said crouching down.

"Really," he said, his face brightening.

"What's your name," Yun said, trying not to coo over how cute he was.

"Ty," he said. "I'm four."

"You're four," Yun gasped. "That's such a big number!" Ty grinned proudly. Yun was shocked. He wasn't even five yet.

"Where are your mama and papa, Ty," Yun asked.

"I don't have a mama and papa," he said, confused. "The manager is right there though." Yun's heart dropped.

"Oh okay," she said, trying to save the conversation. "Do you like acting?"

"I dunno. Sometimes, I get chocolate after. Oh, I'm going on stage soon," Ty said.

"Can I hug you," Yun asked. "Before you go on stage?"

"Yup, you can even carry me," Ty said, lifting his arms. Yun laughed, lifting him up and spinning him around. His excited giggles warmed her heart.

"Good luck with your show, Ty."

"Thanks Miss. . ."

"Yun."

"Thanks Miss Yun," Ty said before walking to his manager. Yun saw Suki motioning for them to go. The play was about to start. Yun ran towards Suki, but she felt a hand catch her wrist. Panicked, she turned around quickly. Her eyes widened when she saw Dramatic Zuko, but he didn't have his scar on.

"Who are you," he asked suspiciously.

"I'm a fan," Yun said, eyes darting around wildly. What if she was the reason their group got caught?

"You're a fan," Dramatic Zuko repeated slowly. Yun nodded, trying to pry his hand off her wrist.

"Yeah, I really like your acting. Your variation between subtle and exaggerated expression, your dedication to your craft, the likeness to Prince Zuko himself," Yun rambled, not entirely sure what she was saying.

"Wow, you're dedicated. I like that in a girl," Dramatic Zuko said, his voice suddenly becoming smoother. Yun looked at Suki and Sokka, waiting for them to save her. Instead, they were just grinning, amused at what was happening.

"Wait a second," Dramatic Zuko said. Yun was about to sneak away when he returned again. He gave her a rose, and stepped close to her. He grabbed her hands and looked her in the eye.

"Why don't you meet me after the show here," he suggested. Yun nodded, not sure what else to do. He nodded firmly before walking off. She rushed past Suki and Sokka to their seats. Sokka and Suki caught up with her when she was about to sit down. The rest of the gang was already sitting down.

"What's with the flower," Zuko asked. Sokka laughed gleefully.

"You gave it to her," he said.

"What," Zuko asked, confused.

"It's nothing," Yun sighed. "The kid who plays me is super cute though. It was fun to talk to him. Here, you can have the rose." She shoved the rose to Zuko, not wanting to hold onto it anymore. She certainly wasn't going to go meet his dramatic counterpart backstage ever. Zuko hesitantly took the rose, before they all turned to watch the rest of the play. Ty was back in after Lake Laogai, trailing behind the rest of the cast. He was looking a little tired, and Yun hoped that he would get some rest after the show.

The play resumed with the invasion. Then Zuko joined them. That was it, there was no more content left. Sokka stood up.

"I guess that's it. The play's caught up to the present now." Suki pulled him back down.

"Wait. The play's not over."

"But it is over," Sokka said. "Unless, this is the future."

Fire Lord Ozai stepped up. It was the day of Sozin's comet, and he made some epic villain speech on how he was unstoppable. Azula then came in to warn him that Female Aang and their group was in the palace. Yun was interested to see how it would play out from there on out.

Dramatic Zuko and Azula started fighting as Female Aang went after the Fire Lord. Dramatic Zuko then died a fiery death. The whole group looked at the real Zuko while he looked forward in shock. Then Aang faced off the Fire Lord. They fought for a while, they were evenly matched. Then Female Aang got caught in a large fire blast and died slowly, a drawn out "no," straying from her lips. The play ended with Fire Lord Ozai saying, "The world is mine."

Everyone in the audience stood up to cheer but the group just sat in shock at what they had watched. They walked out almost immediately after the play was finished.

"That was awful," Yun said.

"Yup," Aang sighed. There was a chorus of agreements.

"The effects were decent," Sokka said. As they walked more, they were able to process a little more of what happened.

"So no meeting that actor huh," Suki teased lightly, trying to lighten the mood.

"Nope," Yun said. She noticed Zuko look at the rose he was still holding.

"What happened," Aang said, trying to get his mind off the play.

"She got caught by Zuko while escaping backstage, so she started flirting with him, and he flirted back," Sokka said.

"I didn't flirt," Yun said, grabbing the rose from Zuko's hand before throwing it at Sokka. "I was trying to get out of a sticky situation, and I worked with what I had."

"Was he cute," Katara asked. Yun groaned.

"No you too!" She thought Katara would have been on her side.

"So was he or not," Toph asked.

"I don't know! I was too scared to actually look at him," Yun said. She didn't remember exactly what he looked like. "He had a nice voice I guess."

"Was he cuter than our Zuko here," Sokka said, slinging one arm over Zuko's shoulders and squishing his cheeks with his free hand. Yun could tell how hard the group was trying to not talk about the play itself, so she decided to play along.

"Nah, Zuko is a bit cuter, I guess? Like the original is always better, you know," Yun said awkwardly, hoping that was good enough. Thankfully it was, with the whole group erupting into either laughter or chatter. Yun looked at Zuko, hoping he wouldn't have felt too uncomfortable with what she said. She noticed he was smiling slightly. Everyone needed validation once in a while, Yun reasoned. Even princes. Former princes? Same thing.


	23. Book 3 Chapter 11: Sozin's Comet Pt 1

CH12: Sozin's Comet Pt.1

Yun sat on the steps of Zuko's vacation home on Ember Island. She felt the sun baking her as she watched Aang train. He looked good, but he lacked something that Yun saw when Zuko firebended.

"More ferocious. Imagine striking through your opponent's heart," Zuko called out, his arms crossed and his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Aang did a few more fire punches before he groaned in frustration.

"I'm trying," he said angrily at Zuko, his shoulders hunched forward defensively.

"Now let me hear you roar like a tigerdillo," Zuko yelled. Aang let out a half-hearted roar, three plumes of fire coming from his hands and mouth.

"That sounded pathetic! I said roar," Zuko yelled. Aang scrunched up his eyebrows and glared at Zuko before turning around and roaring, sending out sustained plumes that kept its heat for several seconds. Yun noticed Zuko giving a subtle nod. It was interesting how Katara's, Toph's, and Zuko's teaching styles were so different. Yun knew her teaching style would be closest to Katara's; she would let them grow through acknowledgement and praise. She looked up as Katara came out of the house.

"Who wants a nice cool glass of watermelon juice," she asked. Aang turned around, excited for a break, when Zuko picked him up by the back of his top.

"Your lesson is not over yet," he said.

"Come on, Zuko. Just take a break. What's the big deal," Suki said, lying on a set next to Sokka.

"Fine, if you want to lounge around like a bunch of snail sloths all day, then go ahead," he said angrily, turning away. As he walked away, Sokka spoke up.

"Maybe Zuko's right. Sitting around has made us lazy, but I know just the thing to change that," Sokka said. He then proceeded to strip until all he had on were shorts. "Beach party," he screamed, before running and jumping into the water. Wanting to escape the heat, Yun did the same thing. Yun laid on her back, letting herself ride along the waves of the ocean. She almost fell asleep like that when she heard some yelling. Waterbending her way back to shore, she and Katara ran up to the others.

"What happened," Katara asked.

"Zuko's gone crazy. I made a sand sculpture of Suki and he destroyed it," Sokka said, patting a large pile of sand. "Oh, and he's attacking Aang."

Yun began running up the path from the beach to the house with the others. They reached the house in time to see Zuko being blasted out of the second floor of the house.

"What's wrong with you? You could have hurt Aang," Katara yelled.

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with all of you," Zuko spat out. "How can you sit around having beach parties when Sozin's Comet is only three days away?"

Yun could only look at Zuko. She remembered the conversation that the group had sans Zuko.

"Why are you all looking at me like I'm crazy," Zuko said.

"About Sozin's Comet," Aang said. "I was gonna wait to fight the Fire Lord until after it came."

"After," Zuko asked.

"I'm not ready" Aang said looking down. "I need more time to master firebending."

"And frankly, your earthbending can use some work too," Toph added.

"So you all knew Aang was going to wait," Zuko asked the group. Yun kept her eyes down.

"Honestly, if Aang tries to fight the Fire Lord right now, he's going to lose. No offense," Sokka said.

"The whole point of fighting the Fire Lord before the comet came was to stop the Fire Nation from winning the war," Katara said. "But they pretty much won the war when they took Ba Sing Se. Things can't get any worse."

"You're wrong. It's about to get worse that you can ever imagine," Zuko said, turning away from them. He told them about the war meeting he attended, about how Azula proposed burning the Earth kingdom hope to the ground, about how Ozai planned on burning the Earth Kingdom on the day of the eclipse.

"I wanted to speak out against this horrifying plan, but I'm ashamed to say I didn't. My whole life, I struggled to gain my father's love and acceptance, but once I had it, I realized I lost myself getting there."

"I always knew the Fire Lord was a bad guy, but his plan is just pure evil," Sokka said. Images of her burning village crossed Yun's mind. It would be that but a thousand times worse, hundreds of thousands of people dying.

"What am I going to do," Aang asked, his voice small. Zuko walked towards him.

"I know you're scared and I know you're not ready to save the world," he said. "But if you don't defeat the Fire Lord before the comet, there won't be a world to save anymore."

"Why didn't you tell me about your dad's crazy plans sooner," Aang asked, panicking.

"I didn't think I had to," Zuko said. "I assumed you'd fight him before the comet. No one told _me_ you decided to wait."

"This is bad. This is really bad," Aang said, holding his head in his hands. He sank to his knees.

"Aang, you don't have to do this alone," Katara said.

"Yeah, if we all fight the Fire Lord together," Toph said. "We got a shot in taking him down."  
"We've faced so many things together. We'll be here for you, Aang," Yun said, smiling at him.

"All right! Team Avatar is back," Sokka crowed. "Air, water, earth, fire, fan and sword!"  
"Fighting the Fire Lord is gonna be the hardest thing we've ever done together, but I wouldn't want to do it any other way," Aang said. They all hugged. Yun looked at Zuko standing apart from them, and Katara noticed her looking.

"Get over here, Zuko," she said. "Being part of the group also means being part of group hugs." Yun and Suki parted to accommodate him. Then Appa came in carrying Song and Momo. He landed so his head knocked into them, pushing them to the ground. Yun laughed while being squished by Toph and being partially on top of Zuko. Untangling herself, she called for Song. When she flapped into Yun's arms, she nuzzled her and smiled. They could do this.

Sokka called them to a cliff's edge. On it was a stick with a dress and a melon head. The group all sat in a half circle around Sokka.

"In order to take out the Fire Lord, or in this case, the Melon Lord, our timing has to be perfect. First, Suki, Yun, and I will draw his line of fire. Then Katara and Zuko charge in with liquidy hot offense, and while he's distracted, Aang swoops in and BAM! He delivers the final blow," Sokka explained, drawing out his diagram in the dirt.

"In the real fight, we might not be on a cliff's edge," Yun added. "So we're going to need to attack from as many sides as possible to confine the Fire Lord to a smaller space. Ideally, Sokka, Suki and I will come from these directions." Yun drew over Sokka's diagram. "Katara and Zuko will come in from one direction to draw in his line of fire, and give him only one path of escape. Then Aang will come from there to do his thing."

"Excellent, young pupil," Sokka said proudly, ruffling Yun's hair. Yun slapped his hand away and smoothed down her hair.

"Um, what about me," Toph asked.

"For now, you're the Melon Lord's forces," Sokka explained.

"So I get to chuck flaming rocks at all of you," Toph asked excitedly.

"Whatever makes the training more realistic," Sokka said.

"Sweetness," Toph said. Yun raised her hand.

"Yes," Sokka asked.

"Can I change sides and be with the Melon Lord's forces," Yun asked. She wanted to be on Toph's side.

"Permission denied," Sokka said. Yun pouted but acquiesced.

Once everything was set up, everyone took their positions. When Sokka signaled go, the three groups headed out. Yun, Suki and Sokka began running up the path. Yun drew out her dragon, smashing the rock soldiers in her path. As she began following the path again, she noticed the flaming boulder falling, leaping to the side the she rolled, then leapt up and kept running forward. As she reached the area where they were supposed to wait with Aang, Sokka yelled, "Aang, now!" Aang flew up, staff ready to strike but then he stopped.

"What are you waiting for? Take him out," Zuko yelled.

"I can't," Aang said, shaking his head. Sokka stalked up to him, his back stiff in anger.

"What's wrong with you? If this was the real deal, you'd be shot full of lighting right now," Sokka said, pointing a finger at him. Yun and the group decided to walk towards Aang as well.

"I'm sorry, but it just didn't feel right. I didn't feel like myself," Aang said miserably. Sokka then drew his sword and cut the melon himself, the halves of it falling to the floor. Yun got to see horror pass over Aang's face. He then just walked away, and Katara went after him. Yun glared at Sokka.

"What," he asked, resheathing his sword.

"You shouldn't have done that," Yun said.

"What, cut a melon," Sokka mocked.

"You know it was more than just cutting a melon," Yun said, crossing her arms.

"If he can't even handle that, how will he handle killing the Fire Lord," Sokka said, his voice rising.

"Well, not traumatizing him," Yun shot back.

"War is traumatizing," Sokka said back. "It's his job as the Avatar to win the war. How is he supposed to do that when he can't even strike down a dummy?"

"He's also a twelve year old kid, Sokka. A twelve year old kid with the weight of the world on his shoulders," Yun yelled in frustration. "Neither you nor I are in a position to lecture him because we will never know what that is like." At that point, Suki and Zuko found it prudent to separate the both of them. Zuko walked with Yun to the beach where she summoned a giant dragon from the beach and let it rear up and splash back down. As she calmed down, it's movements became less erratic, and as she finally calmed down, it was just darting around in the water. With a sigh, she let it dissolve.

"Feeling better," Zuko asked. Yun turned and smiled tiredly.

"You didn't have to wait for me, you know," Yun said.

"Yeah," Zuko shrugged. Then Yun processed what had happened.

"I yelled at Sokka," Yun whispered, horrified. Zuko looked at her.

"You're trembling," he pointed out, walking beside her. She looked down at her hands, which were indeed shaking.

"I yelled at Sokka," she repeated. "I need to go apologize before anything happens." She took off towards the house, but Zuko grabbed her wrist.

"Hey, hey," he said, making her face him. "What's wrong?"

"I can't yell at people," Yun said, near tears. Zuko's eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

"Every time I yell at people, bad things happen," Yun explained tearfully.

"Okay, let's go find Sokka. It was his turn to cook dinner, so he's probably in the kitchen," Zuko said. He then started pulling her to the house and into the kitchen. When they saw Sokka in the kitchen, Zuko gave Yun a little push before leaving the room.

"Sokka," Yun said a little hesitantly. Sokka turned around facing her. His eyes widened and his mouth opened to say something. However, before he could say anything, Yun bowed.

"I'm so sorry," she said, remaining in her bowed position. Sokka rushed over to her and pulled her into a hug.

"I should be the one aplogizing to you. I acted like a jerk," Sokka said.

"You're not mad at me," Yun mumbled into Sokka's shoulder.

"No, no I'm not. Are you mad at me," he asked.

"No, just mad at this situation we're in," Yun said.

"Yeah, that's . . . yeah," Sokka sighed. They separated and then laughed at each other's teary eyes.

"Wanna help me pass out dinner," Sokka asked. Yun nodded, picking up bowls. As she was giving Zuko his, he raised an eyebrow. Yun nodded and he smiled slightly. Once dinner was passed out, Aang sat by himself. Yun wanted to go over to check on him, but maybe he wanted to be alone.

"I have a surprise for everyone," Katara said, holding up a rolled up scroll.

"I knew it! You did have a secret thing with Haru," Toph exclaimed. Yun's eyes widened. She didn't predict that. She was the Love Master. She would know if that was true.

"Uh no," Katara said. "I was looking for cooking pots in the attic and I found this." She unfurled it to reveal a painting of a baby boy. Yun cooed.

"Look at baby Zuko. Isn't he cute," Katara asked. There was some laughter and coos of agreement. Katara saw Zuko's displeased face and said, "Lighten up. I'm just teasing."

"That's not me. That's my father," he said.

"But he looks so sweet and innocent," Suki said, pointing to the scroll.

"Well, that sweet little kid grew up to be a monster and the worst father in the history of fathers," Zuko said.

"But he's still a human being," Aang said, his back turned to the group.

"You're defending him," Zuko asked incredulously.

"No, I agree with you. Fire Lord Ozai is a horrible person," Aang said, getting up and facing them. "And the world would probably be better off without him. But there's gotta be another way."

"Like what," Zuko asked.

"I don't know," Aang said. Then his face brightened up. "Maybe we could make big pots of glue and use gluebending to stick his arms together so he can't bend anymore."

"Yeah, then you can show him his baby pictures and the happy memories will make him good," Zuko said in a mockingly light tone. Sokka, Suki, and Toph laughed.

"Do you really think that would work," Aang asked excitedly.

"No," Zuko said sharply. Aang then started pacing.

"This goes against everything I learned from the monks. I can't just go around wiping out people I don't like," Aang said.

"Sure you can. You're the Avatar. If it's in the name of keeping balance, I'm pretty sure the Universe will forgive you," Sokka said flippantly. Yun sighed at that statement. She then saw Aang start to shake in anger.

"This isn't a joke, Sokka. None of you understand the position I'm in" Aang yelled.

"Aang, we do understand, it's just-," Katara said.

"Just what, Katara," Aang asked. "What?"

"We're trying to help," Katara snapped.

"Then when you figure out a way to beat the Fire Lord without taking his life, I'd love to hear it," Aang yelled, throwing his hands in the air in frustration. He then stalked away.

"Aang, don't walk away from this," Katara yelled. She was about to follow, when Zuko caught hold of her shoulder.

"Let him go. He needs time to sort it out by himself," Zuko said.

"Maybe we can brainstorm ways to defeat the Fire Lord without killing him," Yun suggested.

"Do you really think that would work," Zuko asked incredulously.

"I think it's less of a question of would it work and more of a question of whether that's what he deserves, if that makes any sense," Yun said, fiddling with her fingers.

"Yeah, after all the people he's hurt or killed, I don't know if he deserves anything better than death," Toph commented. The group was silent for a bit, contemplating that. Yun gathered all the bowls and walked over to the kitchen. She piled them into the sink and decided she'd take care of them in the morning. Feeling a presence behind her, she turned around.

"Zuko," she said, watching him standing in the doorway.

"Let's take a walk," he said, turning and walking away. Yun followed, rolling her eyes a little. He didn't even check to see if she would follow him. Typical royalty. Though, that wasn't how Princess Yue acted. Maybe it was just Fire Nation royalty? Maybe it was another teenage firebender thing?

Yun had to jog a bit as he walked to a large room with a sizable balcony. Yum watched his hair move with the slight breeze as he stepped on the balcony. Hesitantly, she joined him.

"What happened today," Zuko asked. Yum stiffened.

"You know with Sokka? You were shaking, and you, you almost cried," Zuko continued. He then paused and looked at Yun for an explanation. Yun licked her dry lips nervously. Zuko deserved an explanation. More than that, Yun wanted to give an explanation. She wanted to talk about what happened, and get it off her chest.

"I don't really get mad you know? It's so tiring, and I'm just not very good at it," Yun started. Zuko nodded in agreement but stayed silent.

"But when I was younger, I got mad a few times, and every time, something bad happened. I remember once, my dad didn't let me buy a flute from a market on a nearby island. I was so mad at him for such a dumb thing," Yun said, laughing humorlessly.

"I yelled at him. I told him that my friends' parents would have bought it for them and that I would never go on another trip with him. On the trip back, I stayed mad at him and so I made sure I was on a different part of the boat than him. But we got caught in a storm and part of the cargo came loose on the boat. There was this big crate crashing towards me, but my dad saved me. But he broke his arm. He couldn't forge for a month, because of me."

"That wasn't your fault," Zuko interjected.

"But if I wasn't mad at him, I wouldn't have been near the cargo in the first place," Yun argued. "And also, it's my fault my sister left!"

Tears started to leak out of her eyes and drip down the sides of her nose. Her head hung down but she kept speaking.

"As she got older, she was always mad at me and she always bossed me around. And she would shove and hit me. But I took it until one day. I don't even remember what she said. But I didn't like it. And I became mean. And I told her that it was because of her that our parents were fighting. That she was a disappointment to them. It wasn't true. It wasn't her. It was just a bad time. But after that fight, she packed up all her things. She left a measly note saying she was leaving and don't look for her. But my parents didn't listen. Every day, they looked." Yun's labored breathing was the only sound for a second.

"And then the worst was when I yelled at my parents. I told them that they were too busy with a daughter that left them, that they couldn't even see the one still here. And that's the day the Fire Nation attacked," Yun said, looking out at the ocean. She wanted to tell Zuko the worst part, but she couldn't. She didn't want to think about that day. She startled as she felt a hand rest over hers which gripped the balcony railing for dear life.

"Those weren't your fault," Zuko said firmly. "We all make mistakes, and we need to learn from them. But holding back emotions and pretending will never help you. It will only hurt you. I hid behind my anger. However, sometimes anger is good. As long as you can grow from it, as long as you can face it and figure out why you feel that way. You aren't letting yourself do that."

"But what if something bad happens again," Yun whispered. "I can't go through that again."

"What? The guilt?"

"I guess."

"Sometimes it's not our fault. I used to think that it was my fault that I got banished from the Fire Nation. It was my fault for embarrassing my father and forcing him into an Agni Kai. But was it," Zuko asked. Yun shook her head vigorously.

"We need to learn when to blame ourselves and when not to. We can't let our fear paralyze us from living," Zuko said, looking in Yun's eyes. Yun wiped her eyes, sniffling noisily.

"Yeah, we can't."

Yun looked out at the ocean and felt at peace.

"Thanks," she said. She was glad she had met Zuko. So, so glad.


	24. Book 3 Chapter 12: Sozin's Comet Pt 2

Yun was last minute packing when Suki rushed in.

"Have you seen Aang," she gasped out. Yun shook her head, her eyebrows drawing together in worry.

"What's going on?"  
"We can't find him anywhere. His glider and Appa are still here, but he's missing and so is Momo," Suki explained. Both Suki and Yun took off running towards the beach. There, they met up with the rest of the group, who were staring at footprints that stopped at the ocean.

"The trail ends here," Sokka exclaimed, kneeling in the sand.

"So he went for a midnight stroll and never came back," Suki guessed.

"Maybe he was captured," Katara said, worry coloring her voice.

"I don't think so," Sokka said. "There's no sign of a struggle." Yun had to agree with that statement. There were footprints straight to the sea. Just one set of footprints.

"I bet he ran away again," Toph said, squatting next to Sokka.

"He left behind his glider _and_ Appa," Sokka refuted.

"Then what do _you_ think happened to him, oh sleuthy one," Toph mocked.

"It's pretty obvious. Aang disappears before an important battle? He's definitely on a spirit world journey," Sokka said, standing confidently.

"But the footprints," Yun pointed out.

"Yeah, and wouldn't his body still be here," Zuko agreed.

"Oh yeah," Sokka said, shoulders slumping. "I forgot about that."

"Then he's gotta be somewhere on Ember Island. Let's split up and look for him," Katara said.

"I'm going with Zuko," Toph called out, immediately glomping onto Zuko. The rest of the group stared at her.

"What," she asked indignantly. "Everyone else went on a life-changing field trip with Zuko. Now it's my turn."

"I haven't," Yun pointed out.

"You can come," Toph reluctantly offered. Yun just shrugged and went to stand with Sokka.

They both got on Appa and began to track the nearby waters.

"Do you think something bad has happened to him," Yun asked from the saddle. She looked into the ocean below, looking for Aang or Momo.

"No," Sokka said firmly, steering Appa closer to the cliffs. Circling the entire island, Sokka steered them back.

When they landed, Yun's heart sank when she saw everybody's faces. She walked over to join them on the steps.

"Judging from your faces, I'm guessing you guys didn't find Aang either," Sokka remarked.

"No," Zuko answered. "It's like he just disappeared." Toph then scrambled up.

"Wait a minute. Has anyone noticed that Momo is also missing," Toph asked. Sokka turned around with a horrorstruck expression.

"Oh no! I knew it was only a matter of time! Appa ate Momo," he cried out, trying to open Appa's mouth. He started wriggling inside.

"Sokka, Appa didn't eat Momo. He's probably with Aang," Katara said exasperatedly.

"That's just what Appa wants you to think," Sokka said.

"Get out of the bison's mouth, Sokka," Zuko snapped. "We have a real problem here. Aang is nowhere to be found and the comet is two days away."

"What should we do, Zuko," Katara asked. The whole group sans Sokka looked towards him.

"I don't know." The whole group continued to look at him, now including Sokka who was in a puddle of sky bison drool.

"Why are you all looking at me," Zuko demanded.

"Well, you are the expert on tracking Aang," Katara said.

"You did do it for three years, very well might I add," Yun said.

Zuko narrowed his eyes, contemplating, before he sighed.

"I know where to go," he said, before climbing onto Appa. Yun looked at Katara who looked back at her. They shrugged before climbing onto Appa.

In the air, Yun felt her hair get into her eyes. She needed to cut it again. Annoyed, she brushed the curls out of her face again.

"Zuko, I don't mean to tell you how to do your job, but why are we heading towards the Earth Kingdom? There's no way Aang's there," Sokka said, peeking over the saddle.

"Just trust me," Zuko said. The rest of the trip, they were silent.

Zuko ended up taking them to a really loud bar. Yun was a little hesitant to step in.

"My mom told me not to go into bars. There are unsavory characters. That's what she said," Yun said. Suki just pushed her through the door.

"The reason you brought us to a seedy Earth Kingdom tavern is what now," Katara asked.

"Jun," Zuko said, pointing towards a lady sitting with a drink in hand in the middle of all the chaos.

"Oh yeah, that weird bounty hunter with the giant mole," Sokka commented.

"Mole? Her skin is flawless," Suki commented.

"No mole, like the animal," Yun said, demonstrating with her fingers near her nose. "You know the animals with the noses like this?"

"The Shirshu," Zuko said. "It's the only animal that can track Aang's scent anywhere in the world. It's the one shot we have of finding him."

Yun's jaw dropped at Jun's fighting skills. She was amazing.

"I don't know who this Jun lady is, but I like her," Toph announced with a big grin.

"I wonder who taught her how to fight," Yun wondered aloud.

"So who's going to be the one who'll approach her," Katara asked. Yun's finger started edging to her nose. She was determined not to be the one who would have to approach the scary lady first. Turns out that the group didn't have to do anything, because Jun noticed them. She quickly kicked another guy away before holding up a fist. The entire tavern quieted. She sat on a chair and looked over the group, seemingly unimpressed.

"Oh great, it's Prince Pouty," she said. "Where's your creepy grandpa?"

"He's my uncle, and . . . he's not here," Zuko said.

"I see you've worked things out with your girlfriend," Jun commented. Yun's eyebrows raised. Was she talking about Katara?

"I'm not his girlfriend," Katara yelled at the same time Zuko denied, "She's not my girlfriend!"

"Okay, okay. Sheesh, I was just teasing. So what do you want," Jun asked, deadpan.

"I need your help finding the Avatar," Zuko said.

"Hm, doesn't sound too fun," Jun said dismissively.

"Does the end of the world sound like more fun," Zuko yelled. Yun winced.

"We are fighting a war, and if we win- if we are on the winning side, we could probably make sure there is some reward for you," she offered.

"That's more my speed," Jun said, standing up to walk outside.

"You shouldn't have offered that," Zuko murmured, scowling.

"Yeah, like you yelling was going to do anything," Yun said crossly, before walking past him to join Katara outside. She came outside just in time to see Appa licking the Shirshu. Yun felt her heart melt a little. Appa was making friends.

Aang's staff was presented to Nyla, the shirshu. Yun bit her lip nervously as the Shirshu began to circle. It then laid down on the ground and whimpered.

"Well, what does that mean," Zuko said, crossing his arms.

"It means your friend's gone," Jun said.

"We know he's gone," Toph said. "That's why we're trying to _find_ him."

"No, I mean he's gone-gone," Jun said. "He doesn't exist."

"What do you mean Aang doesn't exist," Sokka asked. "Do you mean he's, you know, dead?"  
"No, we could find him if he were dead," Jun said, patting Nyla. "It's a real head scratcher. See ya."

"You're just going to leave," Yun asked, shocked.

"Helpful, real helpful," Toph commented dryly.

"Wait, I have another idea," Zuko said. "There's only one other person in this world who can help us face the Firelord. I'll be right back with a smell sample."

He came back with one of General Iroh's sandals. Yun almost gagged from the smell.

"You saved your uncle's sweaty sandal," Sokka asked, plugging his nose. The rest of the group except for Toph couldn't help but do the same.

"I think it's kinda sweet," Toph said.

Nyla took a few sniffs of the sandal before it started running. The rest of the group scrambled onto Appa's saddle and off they went. The flew for a while, Appa following Nyla from the sky.

"We're going to Ba Sing Se," Zuko asked.

"Your uncle is somewhere beyond the wall. Nyla's getting twitchy, so it can't be too far. Good luck." With that, Jun was off.

"Wow, she's so cool," Yun commented. Katara just rolled her eyes. Zuko watched her leave, and then sighed.

"It's been a long day. Let's set up camp here for the night."

Yun woke up to a ring of fire surrounding the group. Blearily rubbing her eyes, she saw figures standing above them.

"Well, look who's here."

Yun grinned, properly awake. That was King Bumi! She could recognize that laughter anywhere.

"What's going on," Toph asked. "We're surrounded by old people!"

"Not just any old people," Katara answered. "These are great masters and friends of ours." She then went up to Pakku and bowed. After introductions were done, Suki asked them how they all knew each other.

"All old people know each other, don't you know that," Bumi asked. Yun's eyes widened in surprise. Seriously?

"We are all part of the same ancient secret society," Master Piandao said. "A group that transcends the divisions of the four nations."

"The Order of the White Lotus," Zuko said.

"That's the one!" Bumi exclaimed.

"The White Lotus has always been about philosophy, and beauty, and truth, but about a month ago, a call went out that we were needed for something important," Jeong-jeong said.

"It came from our Grand Lotus, your uncle," Pakku said. "Iroh of the Fire Nation."

"Well, that's who we are looking for," Toph said.

"Then we'll take you to him," Master Piandao said. Before he could continue, King Bumi shoved him out of the way.

"Wait, someone's missing from your group, someone very important. Where's Momo," he asked, right in Sokka's face.

"He's gone," Sokka explained uncomfortably. "And so is Aang." Bumi quickly straightened up.

"Oh well, so long as they have each other, I'm sure we have nothing to worry about," he said, before earthbending and flying off over the broken wall of Ba Sing Se.

While walking to the main encampment, Yun decided to slow down to walk beside Master Piandao.

"Yun, how have you been doing," Master Piandao asked kindly. Yun sighed, her shoulders drooping a bit.

"I'm just worried about Aang. We don't know where he is," Yun admitted. Master Piandao put one finger under her chin and lifted.

"Chin up, child. Where there is hope, we must never falter," he said firmly. Yun rolled her shoulders back and lifted her chin.

"Yeah, that's true. We have hope. We just need to do our part." Master Piandao smiled.

"Also, Master, why are you in the Order of the White Lotus. You aren't that old," Yun asked curiously. Master Piandao laughed.

"I'm much older than you think I am," he said. Yun's head tilted a little in confusion.

Yun and Suki were led to a tent.

"This is where you will be staying for the night," Jeong-jeong said. They both nodded before setting up their sleeping bags.

"Hey," Suki said.

"Hey," Yun responded, pushing her hair out of her eyes.

"Want me to get that for you," Suki offered.

They stepped out of the tent, one of Yun's daggers in Suki's hand.

"How short do you want it," Suki asked.

"As long as it is out of my eyes, I am fine," Yun said. Her eyes involuntarily closed as Suki ran her fingers through Yun's hair.

"Doesn't this remind you of Kiyoshi Island," Suki asked. Yun smiled, remembering all the fond memories of their childhood.

"Yeah," she murmured.

"Are you going back," Suki asked, cutting the hair at the back of Yun's head.

"Not for a while. There's nothing keeping me there, unless you go back." Yun said. "Are you going back?" Suki sighed.

"I don't know. I really don't know if I can afford to think that far ahead." Yun turned around quickly, a fierce look in her eyes.

"You should think that far ahead, Suki. You are going to make it past this war and have a wonderful life. I guarantee it," Yun said, clutching Suki's hand in both of hers.

"Ok," Suki said, fondly. "Now turn around so I can finish cutting your hair."

The next morning, Yun rubbed her eyes tiredly and sat down for breakfast next to Suki.

"Uncle, you are the only one other than Aang who can possibly defeat the Fatherlord," Zuko said. Was Yun just tired or did she hear that right?  
"You mean the Firelord," Toph corrected. So Yun did hear correctly.

"That's what I just said," Zuko said angrily. He _so_ did not.

General Iroh just sighed.

"We need you to come with us," Zuko pleaded.

"No Zuko. It won't turn out well," General Iroh said.

"You can beat him," Zuko said. "And we'll be there to help."  
"Even if I did defeat Ozai, and I don't know if I could," General Iroh said. "It would be the wrong way to end the war. History would see it as more senseless violence, a brother killing a brother for power. The only way for this war to end peacefully is for the Avatar to defeat the Firelord."  
"And then, would you come take your rightful place on the throne," Zuko asked.

"No, someone new must take the throne, an idealist with a pure heart and unquestionable honor. It has to be you, Prince Zuko."  
"Unquestionable honor? But I've made so many mistakes."  
"Yes, you have. You've struggled and you've suffered. But you have always followed your own path. You have restored your own honor, and only you can restore the honor of the Fire Nation."  
"I'll try, Uncle." Yun felt like that was a lot of pressure to put on one person, and she was a little worried about how Zuko would hold under those expectations. However, that was a problem for another day. A later day.

"Well, what if Aang doesn't come back," Toph asked.

"Sozin's Comet is arriving, and our destinies are upon us. Aang will face the Firelord. When I was a boy, I had a vision that I would one day take Ba Sing Se. Only now do I see that my destiny is to take it back from the Fire Nation, so the Earth Kingdom can be free again."

"That's why you gathered the members of the White Lotus," Suki said. General Iroh nodded.

"Zuko, you must return to the Fire Nation, so that when the Firelord falls, you can assume the throne and restore peace and order. But Azula will be there waiting for you."  
"I can handle Azula," Zuko growled.

"No alone," General Iroh warned. "You will need help."

"You're right. Katara, how would you like to help me put Azula in her place," Zuko asked.

"It would be my pleasure," Katara said, smirking. They both had grudges against Azula. Zuko, for obvious reasons, and Katara for what had been done to Aang, and what Azula had put their group through.

"What about us, what's our destiny today," Sokka asked.

"What do you think it is," General Iroh asked.

"I think that even though we don't know where Aang is," Sokka said. "We need to do everything we can to stop the airship fleet."

"And that means that when Aang does face the Firelord, we'll be right there if he needs us," Toph said, grinning.

"And you, Yun, where does your destiny take you," General Iroh said, looking directly at her.

"Yun, you're coming with us, right," Sokka asked. Yun hesitated for a moment, her eyes swinging from Sokka to General Iroh before speaking.

"Sokka, I need to stay here. I need to help take back Ba Sing Se with General Iroh. That's my destiny."

Yun watched as her friends prepared to leave. She was staying behind, but she knew it was the right thing to do. She couldn't save the Southern Islands, and she couldn't save Kiyoshi Island, but she had a chance now to prove herself. A chance to prove she was stronger than that eight year old girl left behind on the Southern Islands.

She then looked at Song nestled on her shoulder. She couldn't take her to war. She raised Song up so that she was forehead to forehead with her beloved companion.

"I can't take you to war, Song. I won't be able to protect you. Stay with Appa until I come back." Song mewed and licked her forehead. Yun wasn't sure that Song knew what she was saying, but her cat-owl always had a way of surprising her. She walked over to Appa, cradling Song in her arms.

"Take care of her," she said to Zuko. He nodded, and then opened his mouth as if to speak. Yun waited.

"Are you sure," Zuko asked quickly. Was he talking about leaving Song with Appa? Yun then realized he was talking about her choice to stay with the White Lotus.

"Yeah, I am," she said. She raised her right arm, so Song could walk up her left arm and into Zuko's waiting ones.

"Take care," he said, sharply. However, Yun knew that he meant it.

"You too. Next time I see you, I guess I'll have to bow, right Firelord?" Yun grinned at his shocked expression and pivoted, walking back to the Order of the White Lotus. She saw her friends off and prepared for war.


	25. Book 3 Chapter 13: Sozin's Comet Pt 3

Before the Order finished their journey to Ba Sing Se, Master Piandao pulled Yun aside.

"Are you ready," he asked, his voice firm.

"Yes, Master," Yun said, willing her voice not to tremble. In all honesty, she did not feel ready. She still felt as helpless as she did during the siege of the North Pole. All of her insecurities were coming back to her.

Master Piandao's eyes narrowed. Yun gulped, feeling that she was being sized up. He then unsheathed his sword. Stepping back quickly, Yun's hands hovered over her sheathed daggers at her hips.

"Draw them," Master Piandao said. "Draw them, and prove you are ready."

It was another test. Yun unsheathed her daggers, tossing her sheath out of the way. For the first time, Master Piandao didn't say anything. As soon as she held her daggers, he rushed at her, not even allowing her to take her stance. Yun hesitated for a second before rolling to the side to avoid getting run through. Just as she got up from her roll, Master Piandao struck downwards. Yun's knees buckled as she held off the attack with a cross of her daggers.

"Why so hesitant," Master Piandao challenged. "If you hesitate in front of an ally, what will you do in front of a foe? Battle is not the time for hesitation." With that, he backed off for a second, readying his stance. This gave Yun a little time to get herself into a stance as well. She began to look for openings. Fighting with Zuko had given her a little more experience with battling with swords. She would have to be aggressive. Master Piandao was right. Now as not the time for hesitation.

With that, she shot forward, swinging her knife in an arc. This was easily blocked by Master Piandao, but what was unexpected was the kick in the chest that followed, sending Master Piandao stumbling back. Yun followed this up with a downward stab with the dagger in her left hand. Before it could connect, Master Piandao used his free hand to push Yun away. The blow hit Yun right in the solar plexus, knocking the breath out of her. Yun flew back a few feet and ended up on her back.

Wheezing, she got back up just in time to roll out of the way of another attack. Getting up and whipping around, she backflipped out of the way of another swing of the sword. Yun ducked down and ran in, both daggers near her left side where the sword might strike her. Dodging a series of swings and strikes, Yun backed up. Shaking any remaining hesitation from her mind, she went down on both hands and kicked on foot out, unbalancing Master Piando. Quickly transferring back to her feet, Yun swung her right dagger towards Master Piandao's throat, quickly followed by her left one. Master Piandao rolled back, and the momentum from the swing left Yun with her back to him. She could feel the sword coming at her, and she stepped to the side and turned, trapping Master Piandao's sword between her two daggers.

Twisting and pulling up with her left hand as hard as possible, Yun managed to pull the sword out of Master Piandao's hand. With a smooth motion, Yun set a single dagger under Master Piandao's chin.

"Surrender," Yun panted. With a slight smile, Master Piandao raised both of his hands in surrender.

"You are ready," he said.

"You went easy on me," Yun grumped. Master Piandao chuckled before visibly gathering himself.

"War is a difficult thing Yun, and you will be in the midst of it," he said. "You have proved you are ready, but unfortunately, war is never something one is fully ready for. And now you are without your friends. How will you fare?"

Yun stopped and thought for a moment. The leftover adrenaline from the fight with Master Piandao was fading, but with it leaving came a sense of purpose. Yun felt ready to fight, to prove herself. Yun was no longer that eight year old girl running from the Southern Islands, and she was no longer the bystander that she was during the siege of the North Pole. No, she was the daughter of the village chief of the largest village in the Southern Islands. She was sister to Katara, and Sokka, and friend of the Avatar. She was a waterbender, a friend, a dagger-wielder. Yun was a survivor, and she was done running.

"I'm ready, Master Piandao. I will fight with honor and pride, and I will prove myself worthy," she vowed. Master Piandao nodded and handed Yun a Pai Sho tile. Turning it in her hand, Yun recognized the white lotus carved into the tile.

"Ask me about it after the battle is won," he said.

Yun waited in front of the innermost wall of Ba Sing Se, looking at the airships passing overhead. She stood with a group behind the main members of the White Lotus: King Bumi, Pakku, Master Piandao, Jeong jeong, and General Iroh. What used to be part of a flourishing city full of green grass and orderly paths was barren, just brown earth left in its place. Ba Sing Se's beauty was destroyed under a legacy of hate. Yun prayed that she was strong enough to help bring it back to its original glory. She thought of her beautiful home in the Southern Islands, before so full of lush plant-life and creatures. In the six years she had been gone, she wondered if the plants had managed to break through the scorched earth, if the animals managed to find their way home. Did her people manage to return to their village? Did her parents? Yun shook her head to clear herself of such thoughts. They weren't the thoughts that should be brought into battle. Clenching her shaking hands into fists, she took a deep breath and waited for the battle to start.

Jolting, Yun steadied herself on the earthen block she was on as it quickly moved towards the last wall of Ba Sing Se. She watched as General Iroh blasted the wall away, eyes wide in awe. She knew that the comet aided firebenders, but one needed a certain amount of initial strength in order to do that.

As soon as the White Lotus was deposited within the gates, Yun began running. According to the plan, the main White Lotus Members would each be responsible for a quadrant of the city, in charge of quelling the soldiers and tanks in that area. The Order agreed that deaths should be minimized. After all, while not entirely blameless, Fire Nation soldiers were following orders. While taking care of Fire Nation soldiers in her path, Yun kept this in mind. However, she did not hold back, not minding breaking bones or knocking soldiers out to keep them out of her way. Following Master Piandao, she and a few other members of the White Lotus arrived in the Northeast Quadrant.

Strategically, they went down street by street, clearing the area if Fire Nation soldiers. Yun refrained from forming her dragon, knowing the wide area would require that she reserve energy where she could. Instead, she mostly utilized water whips, batting soldiers into buildings or beating them onto the ground. Instead of worrying as she usually did, Yun's mind didn't wander. Instead, she stayed focused, taking care of what was in front of her.

When she encountered a street with rows upon rows of tanks about to fire upon her, Yun prepared to throw up a water sphere to absorb the fire power about to head her way, but then she heard screaming. There were two children behind her on the street, their clothes threadbare and feet naked. They were clutching each other, trembling in fear while looking at the approaching tanks.

Without thinking, Yun threw out a dragon to circle around them and another which overturned the first row of tanks. Running towards the children, she grabbed both of them and ran. Bursting into an empty house, she set them down on. They were crying heaving sobs, terrified out of their minds.

Yun wiped off their tears.

"You need to stay here," she told them. "Stay here, and I will come back for you. Do you understand?"  
"Please don't leave us," one of them blubbered, snot dripping down his nose. He was breathing so fast, Yun was worried he would pass out.

"I have to. I need to help my friends and the Avatar-,"

"You are helping the Avatar," the other boy asked, his eyes wide. "That means you are helping us take back Ba Sing Se."

"Yes, which means you have to stay here, so I can do that," Yun said.

"The orphanage wasn't cleared out when the Fire Nation Soldiers came in," the same boy continued. "We came from there to get help." Yun nodded.

"You guys stay here, and I will get help. Where is it," Yun asked.

"It's a big square building," the first one explained. He had stopped crying, but was occasionally hiccuping.

"Go two streets down that way, and you can't miss it. It's the biggest building in the area," the second boy said, pointing in the direction of the palace.

"Okay, stay here and stay quiet. I promise I will come back for you." With that, Yun ran out into the chaos once more.

Running past unconscious Fire Nation Soldiers and a few injured White Lotus members, Yun saw a big square building . . . that's currently on fire. Heart beating, Yun pulled water from her skins and doused as much of the building as she could. Running inside, she saw the first floor was empty. However, childish cries and yelling from the second floor told her that the building isn't totally evacuated. Running, she hears bulk of the noise in one room. She tried the door and found it locked. Growling in frustration, she kicked open the door. Immediately, terrified screams greeted her. The first thing she saw was a trembling boy standing in front of a group of small children. His arms were splayed wide as if he could hide all of them with his small body. His body is shaking, but his face is angry, daring.

"If you wanna hurt 'em, you gotta get through me," he yelled.

"I'm here to get you out," Yun tried to explain.

"Take us away," one of the small children shrieked in fear.

"No, to safety," Yun gritted out. From the increasing heat, there were fires in the building that Yun hadn't put out, and they were growing.

"How can we trust you," the boy said. Yun assumed he was the makeshift leader of the group.

"I was sent by two boys to help you guys," she said quickly, hoping to get the children out of the building.

"What were their names?"  
"I don't know. One was tall, and the other was crying, okay? We need to get out of here, unless you want to stay in a burning building," Yun said.

"I'm not going anywhere with Fire Nation," the boy said, crossing his arms. Yun almost rolled her eyes. Did she look like a firebender? She formed a small water whip and flicked the boy on the forehead with it.

"I'm a waterbender. Now can we go?" That seemed to appease the lot of them, and they made their way to the stairs. Just as they were about to leave, the boy in charge gasped.

"My photo," he cried out, about to head back. Just as he did so, a wooden beam from the ceiling fell, right on top of the waiting children. Yun grabbed the boy and left backward, and used the water tentacles to push the other children far away from the burning building.

"Li," the other children called frantically. Yun could hear their panic from the other side of the wreck. The ceiling had collapsed right in front of the doorway, and fire was closing in behind them.

Li was unconscious, and the smoke made it hard for Yun to breathe. Putting a hand in front of Li's nose and mouth so that he could avoid the smog, Yun looked at her options. The building was made of concrete, really thick concrete, and the windows were really high up. Yun's only option was to blast through the wooden mess. The only issue was that she was already short of breath, and she wasn't sure that she could blast through the wreck and pull Li out.

"No hesitation," she thought, before pulling her remaining water out. Forming a dragon, she willed it to clear a path for her, and then she let it go. It zoomed forward, tail still connected to her palm and the water source. It weaved and swerved, bucking all the while. It then wrapped its body around the wooden beams, squeezing it much like the Serpent had done to the Fire Nation ship so long ago. When the dragon released, all that was left of the wreck was many, many splinters.

Throwing Li over her shoulder, Yun dragged Li out of the building. As she took a breath of fresh air, the children crowded her.

"Woah, was that a dragon?"  
"That was amazing, miss!"  
"Is Li alright?"

Yun was already feeling unwell, and the crowding wasn't helping. Pushing past the children she went to the side and promptly threw up.

"Ewwwww," the children said. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand and turning around shakily, Yun glared at them. They all quailed. Then Yun heard a boom and remembered that there were children in the middle of a war zone.

"We have to get out of here," she said.

"You want us to go out there," one of the kids said fearfully.

"It's safer further away from the palace. I'll bring you to your friends, and I won't let you get hurt. I promise."

With that promise, Yun set off to the same house she left the two other boys. Sneaking around soldiers when she could, she finally got the children to where she had left the two other boys. She didn't walk them inside the house but did check their surroundings again to make sure the house was safe. Indeed, with dwindling numbers, the Fire Nation troops had slowly been retreating to the palace.

"I'll see you when we've won the war." With that, she turned and returned to the fight. Thoroughly out of water, Yun unsheathed her daggers. She wouldn't be able to take care of tanks anymore, but soldiers were fair game. Bending was useless without fast reflexes to back them up. Master Piandao told her that many times. She could beat these soldiers without her bending. Yun shook off her dizziness and ran back towards the palace.

Dodging broken tanks and unconscious soldiers, Yun ran as fast as she could. Ahead of her, she saw a street lit up by blasts of fire. White Lotus members advanced in a line, pushing the firebenders back. While they were advancing, Yun caught notice of a lone figure approaching the White Lotus member's backs. Pushing her legs to carry her faster, Yun saw the glowing of the soldier's palms. Knowing she wouldn't reach in time, she threw her dagger, puncturing the gap between the helmet and the armor. The soldier fell in a heap, unnoticed by the White Lotus members which had subdued the rest of the street.

Yun approached the figure, trembling hands pulling the knife out. There was just silence; the soldier had died immediately. Trembling hands removed the helmet. His face was cold and pale in death, blood rushing out of the wound. Shaking her head, Yun forced herself to look away, pushing away feelings of guilt and terror. There shouldn't be guilt for killing a coward. Gritting her teeth, she approached the White Lotus members.

"Does anyone have any extra water left," she asked. The members looked amongst each other before a kindly looking woman stepped forward. Her wrinkled hands pushed a water skin towards Yun.

"It's half a skin of water. Use it wisely," she said, her voice strong. Yun nodded before continuing towards the palace, going ahead of the group.

The palace grew bigger as Yun cleared more streets. She confined herself to the shadows, sending out a small water dragon to knock out soldiers one by one. She drew it out and withdrew it again and again. Progress was slow, but Yun knew she couldn't confront the soldiers head on without the risk of passing out. As she cleared more streets, Yun saw the amount of soldiers thinning out. They were probably all at the palace by now. Running towards the palace without the cover of shadows, Yun was not prepared for a sharp pull at the back of her head. The force pulled her to the ground, sending the air out of her lungs.

Gasping, she scrambled up, face to face with a mountain of a man. He was by himself, but the look in his eyes was dangerous. Yun had seen that look in cornered wild animals. Backing up, she withdrew her daggers.

"So, a little girl's been taking out my soldiers, huh?"

"Yeah, and she's going to take you out too," Yun grit out. He just laughed and sent out a fire blast. Jumping to the side, Yun threw a dagger at the soldier, before running towards him, the other dagger outstretched. If she reached him fast enough, she could end it before bending was involved.

What she wasn't prepared for was the backhand that followed, sending her flying backward and sent the dagger out of her hand. Yun landed on her back, rolling and narrowly dodging a fire blast. She whimpered; she was just so tired. And she was by herself. And she barely had any water left. She was just so tired. She wanted to stay down.

However, then she remembered her master and his last test. She remembered her resolve. There was a war, and it was her duty to help win it. She couldn't fight six years ago, but she was different now. Rolling out of the way of another fireblast, Yun leapt up. She couldn't afford to fail now.

Drawing the last of her water into her hands, she took a deep breath. She had to finish this quickly.

"Ready for it to end, little girl," the soldier taunted, hands glowing again.

"Yeah," Yun replied honestly, before leaping forward, willing the last of her strength into her legs. She went down, sweeping the man. With his heavy fall, she clambered to where his face was and forced the water up his nose and mouth. With wide eyes, the man began to struggle. He lashed out, a hand connecting with Yun's leg. A silent scream blocked her throat as she felt the scorching heat from the flame come in contact with her leg. Still she kept the water where it was. After what seemed like eternity, the man's eyes rolled back. Yun released the water, adrenaline pumping through her veins. She couldn't feel her leg, and she didn't care to look at it either. Yun put a shaky hand on the soldier's neck. Still alive.

Pulling herself to her feet, Yun dragged herself over to where she saw her daggers lying. Picking up one then the other, she looked at their sharp edges and then back to the fainted Fire nation soldier. One quick push through the throat, and he would never hurt anyone again. No Earth Kingdom civilian, no waterbender, no Southern Islander. She limped over the soldier's prone body, her burnt leg being dragged along. Collapsing next to the soldier, Yun raised a dagger with two trembling hands. Taking a deep breath, she brought the dagger down.

But she couldn't, her dagger hovering over his vulnerable throat. She couldn't take another life. He was down. He couldn't hurt anyone. Yun couldn't do it. She just couldn't. Sobbing in frustration, she broke down, cursing herself. Why couldn't she do it? What had she worked so hard for, trained so hard for, if not for this moment? She then heard the sound of a horn. The White Lotus Flag had been raised high at the palace.

Astonishment took over. Yun sheathed her dagger and looked closer. The sign of surrender. Yun struggled to her feet, limping to it. One last look towards the soldier, and Yun wiped her eyes. They had won. It was time for a new era of peace. And Yun looked forward to it.

Yun limped towards the palace, her heart full of hope.


	26. Book 3 Chapter 14: Sozin's Comet Pt 4

Yun met the Order of The White Lotus at the Earth Kingdom Palace. Members were rounding up Fire Nation prisoners, and Yun looked around for Master Piandao. She felt relieved to see him looking tired but otherwise fine. She limped over to him, enjoying seeing his face brighten when he saw her.

"Hi Master," she said, nearly blacking out in shock as she attempted to put weight on her burnt leg.

"Yun," he replied, standing up.

"There are a few children in a house three blocks from the east wing of the palace in the fourth quadrant. They are expecting me, but I am not sure I am able to walk that far," she said faintly. She felt weak with exhaustion, the pain from overexertion and the pain racing up and down her burn was not helping.

She vaguely saw Master Piandao nodding and then looking worried before her world faded to black.

* * *

Yun woke up with a start, in a room she didn't recognize. She was in clothes she didn't remember owning and when she looked down, her leg was bandaged up to her knee. Getting out of bed, she attempted to stand, putting all of her weight on her unbandaged tried to take another step but the pain was too much. She immediately fell to the floor, her forearms stopping her face from becoming her next injury. A strangled scream made it out of her throat. Rolling over to her back, she tried to control her breathing, digging her fingernails into her palm to alleviate the pain from everywhere. The overwhelming pain coming from what seemed like every part of her body entered the forefront of her mind, and Yun curled up onto the ground, tears leaking out of her eyes.

Someone rushed into the room, but Yun couldn't even open her eyes to check who it was. She could hear frantic yelling, but she couldn't figure out who was yelling. Ringing pain reverberated through her skull, and she was unable to focus on anything other than that.

Yun felt arms pick her up and put her gently on the bed. However, as they put her down, another wave of pain came over her. A sob pushed out of her throat, and she clutched for something. Finding an arm, she clung, not knowing what else to do.

"Are you telling me nothing can be done," someone asked angrily.

"Zuko, do not yell. I will make some tea to take away some of the pain, but this is something she will have to recover from by herself," a voice answered. Zuko?

"Zuko," Yun whispered questioningly. A hand gripped hers.

"Yes," he said.

"Where am I? Where is everybody else? And Aang," she asked, more tears leaking out from the pain.

"We are all here," another voice said. Katara. "Me, Sokka, Aang, Toph, and Suki. General Iroh and Zuko are here too."

"Aang," Yun said. "You won?"

"Yeah, we won. I'll tell you all about it when you get better."

Another wave of pain ran through Yun, drawing out another strangled sob that she tried to stop from coming out. Yun felt embarrassed at how she was crying like a child but the pain wouldn't stop. She tried to curl in on herself, breathing deeply so that she wouldn't throw up. Nausea worked her way up her throat, but luckily stayed there, not coming up any further. An arm lifted her into a sitting position, and then moved so that a hand supported her head. A cup was brought to her lips and warm liquid filled her mouth. Swallowing was painful, but Yun managed.

"We have to go," Katara started, before Yun interrupted.

"Please don't go," she said, but her voice started slurring. Sleep was approaching quickly.

"I'm going to get her a room. Get her out of the infirmary" Yun heard Zuko say before she drifted off, true darkness taking over again.

* * *

The next time Yun woke up, she was feeling miles better. Opening her eyes, Yun saw a rich red canopy. Sighing, she sank deeper into plush pillows as her hands tightened into a thick blanket on top of her. The sun was shining through the gap in closed curtains.

Wondering what woke her, Yun soon got her answer when she listened. A roar of voices greeted her. Yun pushed the blanket aside and shimmied to the edge of the bed. Looking down, she saw that her left leg was bandaged until just under the knee, allowing her the mobility to still bend and unbend her knee. Gingerly getting up, Yun put all of her weight on one leg. Gently putting weight on her bandaged leg, Yun found she could put some weight on the leg before it became too painful. Hopping about, she couldn't find her old clothes anywhere. They were probably burnt and bloody anyways. However, that left her with nothing to wear except the white one piece she was currently wearing. Reaching mid calf and with mid length sleeves, it was modest enough, but Yun wasn't sure it was appropriate to wear something like it outside. She had never worn anything like it before.

Yun hopped over to the door, slowly opening it and peaking outside. She saw a corridor that led to an outside courtyard. That was where all the noise was coming from. Opening the door fully, Yun quickly limped outside, before transitioning to a hop when the pain became too much.

She saw many people of all nations gathering in the courtyard. Hoping her way around people, she saw some that she recognized. There was Batu, talking to another Southern Watertribe member, and there was the Mechanist. Yun squinted her eyes, trying to look for more familiar faces, when a hand clasped on her shoulder. Turning around with wide eyes, she saw Sokka's grinning face.

"Finally tired of sleeping," he asked playfully.

"Sokka," Yun exclaimed, hugging him in excitement. She hadn't seen him since before the war, and the ache in her heart somewhat receded but increased at the same time.

"Hi little sister," he said softly, gripping her tightly. Pulling away from her a little, he gestured to his bandaged left leg.

"Look, we match," he said excitedly. Before Yun could respond, she was distracted.

"Yun," another voice exclaimed.

"Katara," Yun said, turning towards the sound. Katara waved at her from her father's side. Hopping quickly over, Yun saw Toph, Haku, Teo, The Boulder, The Duke, everyone really.

"What's happening, Katara," Yun asked, looking around for Aang.

"Zuko's coronation. It's the day the new Firelord is going to be crowned."

"Seriously, already," Yun asked incredulously. Hadn't they just won the war?

"Yun, you've been asleep for almost a week," Katara said gently. Yun's eyes widened in shock. She had been gone for a week? What had happened to her?

Before Katara could explain, a hush fell over the crowd. A gong rang. Yun looked up to see Zuko step out. He looked . . . nice. Yun was unsure what she was feeling at the moment, but she pushed it down, chalking up her confusing feelings to her shock at being asleep for a week and the pain in her leg. Still, Zuko looked really good in Fire Nation formal clothing. Yun told her brain to shut up after that thought. As he stepped out on top of the stairs the crowd was facing, they all began to cheer.

Zuko held up a hand and said, "Please, the real hero is the Avatar." With that, Aang walked out, wearing his traditional Air nomad garb. Yun was struck with how grown up he looked, so different from who she had met a year ago.

It made her choke up just a little just knowing how much he had to have gone through. How much he had grown up. How much they all had grown up. Yun was sure her parents would be proud of her, wherever they were.

"Today, the war is finally over," Zuko said, followed by cheers from the crowd.

"I promised my uncle I would restore the honor of the Fire Nation, and I will," he continued. "The road ahead of us is challenging. A hundred years of fighting have left the world scarred and divided. But with the Avatar's help, we can get it back on the right path, and begin a new era of love and peace."

With that, Zuko kneeled and a fire sage approached, holding the symbol of the Firelord with him.

With an exclamation of "All hail Firelord Zuko," Zuko was crowned amongst cheers from his friends and allies.

After the coronation, Zuko left immediately, but Aang joined his friends in the crowd. Yun hopped over to him and gave him a big hug.

"Yun, you're awake," he exclaimed, hugging her back.

"You look great, Aang," Yun said happily, nuzzling the top of his head with her cheek. She let him go and let him greet the others. Suki approached her and guided one of Yun's arms over her shoulder, so that she could support most of her weight.

"We need to get you a crutch, huh," she commented. Yun nodded, looking enviously at Sokka's.

"Do you think Sokka would miss his," Yun asked. Suki laughed.

"He's grown quite attached to it," she said. Yun sighed deeply. Katara and Aang approached them.

"Are you feeling okay," Katara asked. "Do you want to go back to bed?"

"I'm feeling fine, Katara" Yun huffed. "I've been sleeping for a week. I doubt I need more time in bed now."

"What I do need," Yun continued. "Is for you guys to tell me everything I missed."

The Gaang led her over to a bench in another part of the castle, considerably more quiet and private and began telling her everything.

"A lion turtle, seriously," Yun asked in disbelief. She didn't even know that they were still around.

"Yeah, it taught me how to energy-bend, so I took away Firelord Ozai's bending," Aang explained.

"Where is he now," Katara asked. Everyone looked amongst themselves and shrugged.

"You beat Azula," Sokka asked in shock. Yun guessed no one had time to share everything that had happened yet.

"Kind of," Katara said. "She was already unstable, and she had already tried to shoot lightning at me, and Zuko took the lightning instead-"

"She shot lightning at you," Aang yelled in disbelief while Yun simultaneously exclaimed, "Zuko got hit with lightning?"

"Yeah, it was terrifying in the moment," Katara shuddered. "But she's somewhere she can never hurt anyone else again."

"So where is she now," Sokka asked. The whole group looked amongst themselves and shrugged again.

Yun was partially through explaining what happened when she remembered something.

"The orphans," she exclaimed, jumping to her feet. She quickly fell back onto the bench when her left leg protested the rough treatment.

"What," Toph asked.

"There were orphans in Ba Sing Se. They were in the middle of all the fighting. I got them to a house, but I don't know where they are now!" Yun felt horrible, guilt constricting her heart.

"They might be here," Suki said, putting a comforting hand on Yun's shoulder. "We were brought here with the remaining Fire Nation warships, and maybe they were brought as well."

"Do you know where they might be," Yun asked, trying to remember how many kids she had gotten out.

"No, sorry. Zuko might know? Or maybe General Iroh," Suki suggested. Yun nodded, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. She would have to find out what happened to the kids, make sure they have a place to stay, and make sure they are feeling okay.

They all were talking still when a servant approached them.

"Here is a message from Firelord Zuko," she said, bowing. She handed off the letter to Aang before leaving. The group crowded around him to see what was written. Aang cleared his throat before he started reading.

"I have rooms arranged for you. Please ask a servant as to where you will be staying. Also, make Yun go back to bed." Yun scowled at that.

"I don't need to go to bed," Yun grouched. She felt fine, and she didn't need anyone to worry about her.

"Well, I do," Sokka said. "Where's your bed?"  
With Suki's help, Yun traced her way back to the bedroom she was occupying. Toph whistled upon coming inside.

"That's a big room," she said admiringly.

"Feel the sheets," Yun encouraged excitedly. They all crowded on the bed, enjoying each other's company. Yun swore her heart had never felt more full.

"So what now," Aang asked, looking at the canopy above them. Yun looked up as well. They had gone through so much. There was constant travel, running from the Fire Nation, Zuko, Azula, and making their way towards their destiny. What was their destiny now?

"I want to go home, and maybe sleep for a million years," Sokka said.

"I want to go home too, and see Gran Gran. And spend time with Dad," Katara seconded.

"I need to find my parents," Yun said softly. Now the war was over, that was her destiny. She needed to find her parents and get back to the Southern Islands.

"So, we're splitting up," Toph said, her voice uncharacteristically small. A hush fell over the group.

"Well, can't we stay here a couple of more days," Suki said hesitantly. "Zuko gave us rooms, and we can actually enjoy the Fire Nation capital, you know? Without people trying to kill us?"

"Great idea," Sokka said, springing up. "Let's make the most of these days!" Suki let out a small laugh, sitting up to peck Sokka on the cheek. Yun smiled at the display while Toph mimicked throwing up. Yun looked over at Aang and Katara, and huffed out a little laugh. Faces close together, they lay on the bed fast asleep.

"We might have to wait a bit for exploring the capital," she said. In the end, they all crowded on the plush bed, falling asleep to the sound of each other's even breaths.

* * *

Over the next few days, Yun spent almost every minute with Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, and Suki. Zuko was nowhere to be found, but Yun assumed he had a lot to do, being the new Firelord and all. The group explored the streets of the Fire Nation, excitedly looking at all the things they didn't get to enjoy the last time they "visited". Shops were mostly closed, as a sort of independence holiday, so the group didn't see many Fire Nation citizens.

"I wonder what they think of me," Aang confessed.

"Probably nothing good. I mean you got rid of their firelord, and now nothing is ever going to be the same for them," Sokka said frankly, picking his teeth. Aang visibly deflated.

"You can't please everyone, Aang," Katara said gently, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You are a hero to most of the world, but not everyone understands that right now."

"Who cares what they think, Twinkletoes," Toph said carelessly.

"Yeah, what matters is what people close to you think," Suki said, nodding firmly. Aang shrugged. He was about to say more, when a messenger came up to them.

"A letter from Firelord Zuko," he said, bowing. He then gave the scroll to Aang and left promptly.

"I formally invite you to the opening of the Jasmine Dragon. Iroh," Aang read aloud.

"So it's not Zuko's invitation. It's Iroh's," Toph asked.

"I guess," Aang said, squinting at the message.

"Where is his tea shop," Suki asked, looking at the message again.

"I guess we're going to Ba Sing Se," Katara said.

* * *

When they arrived, Yun was surprised to see how pristine it looked. Granted, this was towards the northern part of the innermost wall, so there wasn't a lot of damage in the area. The Jasmine Dragon was painted a beautiful shade of green, and the interior was calming and plain, a few tables and chairs set up around the room.

They all cautiously entered, seeing how empty the building was.

"Hello," Aang called out. Zuko came out, dressed in green typical of Earth Nation garb.

"Sit down," he said cheerfully. "Uncle will be out in a moment. He's tuning." With an affection filled eye roll, he went to the back again. The Gaang looked at each other again, before shrugging at sitting down. By this point, Yun didn't need her crutch anymore, and all that was left of her injury was a burn marking on her leg. It travelled up from her ankle to her knee, and twinged at times. Katara had been helping her heal it, but it was just something that would take time.

Yun made her way to the back, peering in the doorway.

"Zuko, do you need any help," she offered.

"Could you pass-," Zuko started to say before sharply turning around. His eyes widened in surprise. "Yun, your leg! You need-,"

"I'm fine, I swear! It barely hurts-"  
"Barely hurts? Where is your crutch?"  
"Zuko, I'm fine- The tea kettle! The tea kettle is overflowing!"  
A mad dash ensued, both Zuko and Yun rushing to get the tea kettle off of the heat. When Zuko placed the tea kettle safely away from the fire, Yun began to giggle.

"It's not funny," Zuko grouched, though the corner of his mouth twitched up.

"It's a little funny," Yun said through giggles. "You looked more freaked out over a boiling kettle than you did at your coronation." With that, Yun quickly sobered.

"Oh yeah, I have to refer to you as Firelord Zuko." She bowed. Zuko made a face.

"What," Yun asked, straightening up.

"It sounds weird when you say it."

"What do you mean," Yun asked, offended.

"Just call me Zuko," he said quickly, before turning to pour tea into cups. "And take these out for me."

Yun left the kitchen with a tray in her hands. She saw her friends lounging around the Jasmine Dragon, and she saw General Iroh with an instrument in his hands.

"Hello, General Iroh," she said, handing him a cup of tea.

"Just Iroh. I am a general no longer, just an owner of a tea shop."

"Honestly, that sounds cooler," Yun said, receiving a smile in return. She gave tea to everyone else, before returning to the kitchen with the empty tray. She saw Zuko cleaning up the kitchen, putting the tea leaves and kettle away.

Taking the tray from Yun, he said, "I have something to say to you, but it can wait. Let's enjoy this evening with our friends." With that he walked out of the kitchen towards their friends. Yun's eyebrows furrowed as she thought about what he could mean. What did he have to say to her? Was she in trouble?

"Yun, are you okay," Katara called out. Putting a smile on her face, Yun headed back to the tables to hang out with her friends.

Later, she followed Zuko out of the Jasmine Dragon. They were about to walk towards the sunset into an open area, when Yun started.

"Maybe we should go somewhere else," Yun said, turning around quickly. Zuko looked confused, still walking in that direction.

"Kissing! Aang. Katara. Kissing," Yun whispered, pointing to where the two were locked in a passionate embrace.

A blush slowly crept onto Zuko's face before he turned around quickly leading Yun to the back of the Jasmine Dragon. Yun's heart rate began to pick up. What did he want to talk about?

"Yun," Zuko said, not looking at her. He then awkwardly cleared his throat.

"Yes," Yun asked hesitantly, not sure if Zuko was waiting for an answer. Zuko stalled for a moment before taking a deep breath.

"Do you want, umm, do you, would you, want," Zuko started, before straightening up. "I would like to formally offer you a position of diplomat of the Southern Islands under the Crown of the Fire Nation."

Yun's jaw dropped.

Seeing her jaw drop, Zuko began to speak quickly.

"I don't have many people I can trust right now. Most of the staff in the palace were there under my father's rule. I want y- someone I can trust close to me right now, and you know so much about the Southern Islands."

"Zuko, I-," Yun started to say, before she was cut off.

"And your parents, I know you are still searching for them, but now you can do it with funds, you know? I thought about it all," Zuko said excitedly. However, that energy faded when he saw Yun's shocked face.

"I'll give you some time to think about it," he sighed, running a hand through his hair. He then turned and walked back into the Jasmine Dragon. Yun slumped onto the outer wall of the Jasmine Dragon.

The war was over and won. Aang fulfilled his destiny. The world was saved. Yun helped save Ba Sing Se. Now she needed to find her parents. She then remembered the look on Zuko's face when she didn't give her answer. He was all by himself, surrounded by people who sat by as he was banished at thirteen. Yun groaned in frustration, gripping her hair in her hands.

What was her next step?

* * *

**Guys! I'm done with my first fanfiction ever! This is crazy, and I want to thank you for all the support you have shown me, with your views and reviews, and everything, even with my wildly weird upload schedule. **

**This fanfiction will be marked as complete, but I might go back and change grammatical errors as well as formatting. **

**For the sequel, I am planning on fleshing out Yun's personality more, now that I don't have to follow canonical events. I do plan on Zuko and Yun getting together officially in the sequel, but it might take time, hee hee.  
Also please let me know about characters you want to return in the sequel. They can be super minor characters to more major ones. **

**Thank you once again, and see you later!**


	27. Sequel Up

Hey guys! The sequel is up. I hope you all enjoy it. Updates will probably be irregular, just because I do have a summer job, and then will start school in a bit.

Also, please help me come up with a title that is similar to the title Finding Myself. I'm totally terrible with title names.


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